Hundreds of thousands have reportedly attended protests that have reached 55 of Turkey’s 81 provinces since the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on 19 March, campaigning against perceived authoritarian overreach by the government of President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan’s government has issued orders temporarily banning protests in several cities, while suppressing media and social media covering the movement.
Students have come to play a leading role since the arrest of Imamoglu on corruption charges, who was due to be nominated as the presidential candidate of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and main rival to Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP).
A protester in Istanbul covers his mouth with a scarf bearing a portrait of Turkish modern state’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Photo: Kemal Aslan/AFP/Getty)
Student groups sparked the movement into life after the CHP initially declined to call for protests, said Selim Koru, a Turkish political analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute think tank.
Rana, a 19-year-old student at an Istanbul university – whose name has been changed for safety reasons, as with others quoted in this report – has attended several rallies. She said the arrest of Imamoglu was the immediate cause for protests but students have a broader agenda.
Erdogan’s government denies persecuting opponents and claims to be enforcing the law in the case of Imamoglu and others.
Rana, who does not support any political party, said she and other protesters have faced police violence at rallies.
A protestor holding a Turkish flag stands in front of Turkish riot police officers near Istanbul’s city hall (Photo: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty)
The protests have also received backing from trade unions, minority groups, and opposition parties across the spectrum from the Communist Party to the hard right Victory Party, as well as students.
The government has taken further repressive measures as the movement has grown, arresting 10 journalists, and seeking suspensions of hundreds of social media accounts. State broadcaster RTUK has issued fines against independent media covering the protests, alleging violation of impartiality laws.
Elon Musk’s social network network X published a statement on Monday pushing back against requests from Ankara to block accounts.
But activists alleged the company had still shut down several accounts involved with protests.
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Read MoreIslamist group, the Great Islamic Raiders’ Front has threatened to attack protesters at a rally in Istanbul’s Saraçhane square, she said.
Zeynep said she hoped the protests would pressure the government to release Imamoglu but added “the AKP and Erdogan push all the buttons now” and they “use the judiciary as a political weapon” in the same way as Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia.
“I think the current situation in Turkey – in every aspect of politics, in economics, in culture, in sports, in media, everything – is going in a very bad direction,” he said. “People are having a really difficult time just barely surviving.”
“I feel like every month that goes on, something is being stolen from my life, and this anger builds up. Now I have a direct way of showing my anger and my discontent, so that’s why I’m on the streets.”
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