After the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the main political rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, mass protests began in Turkey. In an attempt to suppress them, local authorities detained 37 people accused of "provocative" publications on social networks. This is reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.
Details
According to the publication, Imamoglu was detained on Wednesday on charges of bribery and aiding a terrorist group. Turkey has arrested a construction company co-owned by the mayor of Istanbul. Control over construction, trade and industry Imamoglu passed to the court on the basis of reports of financial crime investigations, - explained the prosecutor's office of the country.
The main opposition party condemned the move as "an attempted coup against the next president." The government banned demonstrations for four days, closed several roads and restricted access to some social networks.
Erdogan's rival Imamoglu was banned from running in the elections in Turkey18.03.25, 21:20
Despite this, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Turkish cities and universities, chanting anti-government slogans. In order to find the protesters, the Turkish authorities began to check social networks for posts that "incite crime and hatred of the authorities." Law enforcement officers found 261 publications (62 of them abroad) and found 105 other people, most of whom were employees of the Istanbul municipality. The rest of the suspects are still wanted.
Within 24 hours of Imamoglu's detention, 18.6 million posts about him were shared on X. The popular 54-year-old man is ahead of Erdogan in some polls, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
Let us remind you
Earlier, UNN wrote that students across Turkey took to mass protests over the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. He is accused of corruption and aiding terrorists, which has sparked outrage from the opposition.