Türkiye faces street protests with Istanbul mayor arrest, sentenced to jail – State
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that protests against the mayor of Istanbul have become a “violent movement” with the main opposition parties liable for the injured police and property damage.
Erdogan's main political rival, Ekrem Imamoglu, was detained last Wednesday, sparking Türkiye's biggest street protests in more than a decade. The court was sentenced to jail for denying corruption charges on Sunday, awaiting trial.
Imamoglu's main opposition Republican Party (CHP) and its supporters said the allegations against him were politically motivated and undemocratic, and Erdogan's administration denied it.
Despite the ban imposed at street parties in many cities, most peaceful anti-government demonstrations lasted for the sixth consecutive night, with thousands participating in the competition, and the health center leader Ozgur Ozel repeated calls for the nationwide protests to continue.
Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting in Ankara that the Centre for Health Protection should stop “provoking” citizens.
“As a country, we are following closely behind, the incident of major opposition leaders calling for taking to the streets after a corruption campaign in Istanbul turned into a violent movement,” the 71-year-old president said.
“The main opposition is responsible for our (injured) police, our shop owner's broken windows and damaged public property. They will be responsible for all this, politically, in parliament, legally legally.”
Earlier, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya accused some protesters of “intimidating” the streets and threatening national security. He said 1,133 people were detained and 123 police officers were injured within the five days of the protest.
A delegation from the Health Protection Centre met with the governor of Istanbul to discuss police crackdown on protesters. Ozgur Celik, the party’s Istanbul chief, said Sunday night’s police intervention was by far the most violent, with many in hospital.
CHP leader Ozel spoke again at the Istanbul Municipal Government Headquarters in Sarachane, repeating the phone in Boycott Media, Brands and stores he calls Pro-Erdogan, and supplementing all allegations against Imamoglu, are non-basic, no evidence, no evidence.
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“Whoever Tayyip Erdogan was unjustly sentenced to jail to defend democracy and Turkey,” Ozel said, saying he also called for continued protests as the crowd waved flags and shouted slogans called on the government to resign.
Ozel added that his party will also call on Imamoglu to release it at the trial and broadcast the trial on TRT State Broadcasting Corporation. He challenged Erdogan to discuss the TV debate while calling on protesters to maintain public order and avoid conflict.
Before Ozel's speech, a sit-in protest blocked traffic on both sides of the bridge at the historic Galata Bridge in Istanbul, while others gathered in the city, Ankara and other places in other cities.
Just after Ozel finished his speech, police fired particles and tear gas and used water cannons to disperse protesters in Istanbul while detaining several people. In Ankara, protesters stood in front of a truck carrying water Canon and asked the police to let them move forward peacefully.
Protesters say mayor “goes to jail for no reason”
Imamoglu, 54, was sentenced to jail at the trial on Sunday after the Centre for Health Protection held a primary election named after the presidential candidate. About 15 million votes received the mayor's support.
News of Imamogru's arrest covered the front pages of Turkish newspapers on Monday, with opposition media showing that the mayor was arrested for becoming Erdogan's most credible challenger.
Supporters of the mayor said Imamogru's imprisonment shows a lack of justice in Türkiye.
“I think there are unfair crimes against Imamoglu,” said Adem Bali, a 22-year-old construction worker.
Rights groups and European countries say Imamogru's arrest marked a post-slide of democracy and criticized police intervention. Germany said it made Türkiye pursuing EU members for decades, which sounded “increasingly hollow.”
It said in a statement that a meeting of the EU's Joint Parliamentary Committee was held when the EU party “concludes that the current situation is not conducive to meetings.
A health protection center official said on Monday that the party will appeal this week a decision by the University of Istanbul to demand a diploma from Imamumoglu – necessary to qualify in the presidential campaign, adding that lawyers are also arresting the mayor.
Erdogan, who ruled Turkish politics for more than two decades and did not immediately test it on the ballot box, said events in the past few days showed that health community health community was not suitable for operating local municipalities, let alone the state.
He also tried to reassure investors last week that sold Turkish assets after Imamoglu was detained, dispatching stocks, bonds and lira currencies to gather and prompt the central bank to step in forex sales and other stabilization measures.
“Our priority is to protect large amounts of stability. The central bank's finance and finance, with our support, all relevant agencies work around the clock and at night, have taken all the necessary steps.”
The Istanbul Paris benchmark index.xu100 suffered some losses on Monday after suffering a 16.6% decline last week, the worst decline since the global financial crisis in October 2008.
Analysts expect political turmoil and uncertainty to last for a long time.
“The protests marked the most important and widest public response in a decade, making the trajectory of the incident unpredictable,” said Wolfango Piccoli, co-chair of Teneo Consultancy.
“Again, President Erdogan’s political agenda has wreaked havoc on Turkey’s economic outlook.”
