Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to join mass protests after the strongest rival of Turkish President Erdoğan, Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, was arrested on March 19.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been the de facto leader of Turkey since 2022, first as Prime Minister and later as President. During his rule, Turkey has experienced increasing authoritarianism and democratic backsliding, as the government imposed censorship and banned rival parties and dissent.

In recent times, Erdoğan has increasingly employed anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments in his rhetoric. In 2023, he based most of his electoral campaign on the opposition to the so-called “LGBT forces”, linking queer identities with “terror, immorality, perversion and violence”.

Many of his speeches accused the opposition of undermining family values and being infiltrated by powerful LGBTQ+ networks, sometimes even hinting that they were being run by paymasters abroad, framing queerness as “cultural terrorism” of the West.

Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, was seen as the only challenger capable of defeating Erdoğan at the ballot. While the next presidential election in Turkey is due in 2028, an early vote is expected. İmamoğlu was arrested just days before he was due to be announced as a presidential candidate for the next election.

He was jailed on charges of leading a criminal organisation, bribery, misconduct and corruption. He was accused of “aiding an armed terrorist group” because he cooperated with a leftwing political coalition last year. On Sunday, March 23, an Istanbul court formally confirmed the arrest on corruption charges alone.

 

Visualizza questo post su Instagram

 

Un post condiviso da Erdem Sahin (@erdemshn)

İmamoğlu was sent to Silivri prison for pre-trial detention and the Turkish interior ministry has issued a directive to remove him as mayor of Istanbul. While the arrest doesn’t prevent Imamoglu’s candidacy as president, he won’t be able to run if he is convicted of any of the charges.

Moreover, on Tuesday, March 18, Istanbul University announced that it would revoke Imamoglu’s degree due to alleged irregularities. This move would prevent the politician from running, since the Turkish constitution mandates that presidents must have completed higher education to be able to hold office. Imamoglu’s lawyers said they will appeal the decision before the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

İmamoğlu firmly denied all accusations, which he has described as “immoral and baseless”. He stated that his arrest “not only harmed Turkey’s international reputation but has also shattered the public’s sense of justice and trust in the economy”.

🧵🇹🇷 Hundreds of thousands of people rallied across Turkey on Sunday, demanding the Erdogan government’s resignation after the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the main opposition party’s presidential candidate.

Read more: https://t.co/V463FdTc3V pic.twitter.com/VN3C9LFooo

— Balkan Insight (@BalkanInsight) March 24, 2025

Several other opposition politicians were also arrested, and Turkish authorities also issued court orders against over 700 accounts on X targeting “news organisations, journalists, political figures, students and others within Turkiye”, according to the platform.

Turkish officials have rejected claims that this sweeping crackdown was politically motivated, but protests have erupted all over the country in what is considered Turkey’s worst unrest since 2013. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in at least 55 of the 81 Turkish provinces, as well as in other parts of the world.

Riot police used rubber bullets, pepper spray and even water cannons in attempts to disperse the growing crowds. According to reports, Turkish authorities detained over 1100 people across the country since the protests started five days ago. These include nine journalists who were covering the protests, though it is unclear why they were detained.

 

Visualizza questo post su Instagram

 

Un post condiviso da Erdem Sahin (@erdemshn)

In Dublin, the Turkish community has been holding demonstrations since Wednesday. At a protest organised yesterday, March 23, around 200 people gathered in the Irish capital, condemning İmamoğlu’s arrest as a “political coup”.

“This injustice is a direct blow to the people’s right to vote and be elected, showing that citizens’ will can be seized at any moment,” said Ebru Isikli, a spokesperson for Democratic Türkiye Community.

“We condemn the unlawful system in which anyone who criticizes AKP policies is declared a criminal, and journalists and opposition politicians are imprisoned. We will continue our struggle everywhere.

“As citizens who believe in democracy, both in Turkey and worldwide, we refuse to remain silent in the face of this injustice – and we never will”.