Hundreds of thousands join Istanbul protest rally

Supporters wave Turkish and CHP party flags during a rally protesting the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul, Mar. 29, 2025. (AP)
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  • Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition party CHP which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd
  • The mass protests, which began with Imamoglu鈥檚 March 19 detention on contested fraud and 鈥渢error鈥� charges, have prompted a repressive government response

ISTANBUL: Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators rallied Saturday in Istanbul in defense of democracy after the arrest of mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkiye鈥檚 worst street unrest in over a decade.
Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkiye鈥檚 biggest city on the eve of the Eid Al-Fitr celebration which starts Sunday, marking the end of Ramadan.
Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition party CHP which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but AFP was unable to independently confirm the figure.
The mass protests, which began with Imamoglu鈥檚 March 19 detention on contested fraud and 鈥渢error鈥� charges, have prompted a repressive government response that has been sharply condemned by rights groups and drawn criticism from abroad.
Widely seen as the only politician capable of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the ballot box, Imamoglu was elected as CHP鈥檚 candidate for the 2028 race on the day he was jailed.
As his wife, Dilek, arrived on stage, massive applause arose from the crowd which was a sea of Turkish flags and pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, modern Turkiye鈥檚 founding father.

Imamoglu was resoundingly re-elected mayor for the third time last year. The anger over his arrest which began in Istanbul quickly spread across Turkiye.
Nightly protests outside Istanbul City Hall drew vast crowds and often degenerated into running battles with riot police, who used teargas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.
鈥淲e are here today for our homeland. We, the people, elect our rulers,鈥� insisted 17-year-old Melis Basak Ergun, a young protester who vowed they would never be cowed 鈥渂y violence or tear gas.鈥�
鈥淲e stand behind our mayor, Imamoglu.鈥�
Turkish authorities did not comment on the latest mass protest. Erdogan has previously branded the demonstrations 鈥渟treet terror.鈥�
In a letter read out to the crowd, Imamoglu addressed Turkiye鈥檚 youngsters, saying: 鈥淚f young people are on the front line, it鈥檚 because they鈥檙e the ones who feel most anxiety about the future.
鈥淭he youth are telling Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Show the people respect. Don鈥檛 touch the nation鈥檚 will. Don鈥檛 cheat 鈥� compete fairly. But Erdogan is closing his ears to these voices,鈥� he wrote.
鈥淭his is not about Ekrem Imamoglu, it鈥檚 about our country... It is about justice, democracy and freedom,鈥� he said, as the crowd roared back: 鈥淩ights! Law! Justice!鈥�
鈥淓verywhere is Taksim, resistance is everywhere!鈥� they chanted, referring to Istanbul鈥檚 iconic Taksim Square, site of the last massive wave of protests in 2013.
The last major demonstration called by CHP was Tuesday ahead of Saturday鈥檚 big rally, although students have continued to protest throughout the week.
Speaking to French newspaper Le Monde, Ozel said there would be weekly rallies every Saturday in different cities across Turkiye as well as a weekly Wednesday night demo in Istanbul.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 stop this attempted coup, it will mean the end of the ballot box,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 joined the rallies outside City Hall for four days together with university students. I told them not to give in,鈥� protester Cafer Sungur, 78, told AFP.
鈥淭here is no other way than to keep fighting,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 was jailed in the 1970s but back then there was justice. Today we can鈥檛 talk about justice anymore.鈥�
Student groups have kept up their own protests, most of them masked, in the face of a police crackdown that has seen nearly 2,000 people arrested.
The authorities have also cracked down on media coverage, arresting 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deporting a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arresting a Swedish reporter who flew into Istanbul to cover the unrest.
Eleven journalists were freed Thursday, among them AFP photographer Yasin Akgul.
Swedish journalist Joakim Medin was jailed on Friday, his employer Dagens ETC told AFP.
Reporters Without Borders鈥� Turkiye representative Erol Onderoglu said Medin had been charged with 鈥渋nsulting the president鈥� 鈥� a charge often use to silence Erdogan鈥檚 critics.
鈥淭he judicial pressure systematically brought to bear on local journalists for a long time is now being brought to bear on their foreign colleagues,鈥� he told AFP, two days after the deportation of BBC correspondent Mark Lowen.
He said authorities had accused him of being 鈥渁 threat to public order.鈥�
Baris Altintas, co-director of MLSA, a legal NGO helping many of the detainees, told AFP the authorities 鈥渟eem to be very determined to limit coverage of the protests.
鈥淲e fear the crackdown on the press will not only continue but increase,鈥� she said.