More than 340 people have been detained after some of the largest street protests in Turkey in more than a decade, triggered by the detention of the opposition mayor of Istanbul, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Saturday, UNN reports.
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"343 suspects were caught during the protests that took place last night in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Canakkale, Eskisehir, Konya and Edirne," the minister wrote on X.
He warned that those who tried to sow "chaos and provocations... will certainly not be tolerated!".
This was the third night in a row that protesters rallied in support of Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's biggest political rival, whose arrest on Wednesday sparked a mass demonstration of defiance that spread from Istanbul to more than 50 of Turkey's 81 provinces, AFP notes.
In the evening, fierce clashes broke out between protesters and police, who used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse them in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
Having spent his third night in custody, Imamoglu, who was arrested days before the CHP party was due to name him as its candidate in the 2028 presidential election, began speaking to police on Saturday morning in connection with a "terrorism" investigation, party sources told AFP.
He is then expected to appear before prosecutors at the Kaglayan courthouse at 18:00 GMT to be questioned in investigations into bribery and terrorism, they said.
Police questioned him for six hours on Friday over bribery allegations, the party said.
"Mr. Imamoglu denies all charges against him," said one of his lawyers, Mehmet Pehlivan.
"The detention was aimed at undermining Mr. Imamoglu's reputation in the eyes of the public," he wrote on X early Saturday, saying both investigations were "based on false claims" and "violated the right to a fair trial."
Demonstrators across the country were due to rally again on Saturday evening.
In a message on X sent through his lawyers, Imamoglu said he was "honored" and "proud" of the demonstrators who took to the streets, saying they were "defending our republic, our democracy, the future of a just Turkey and the will of our nation."
Actions against Imamoglu have hurt the Turkish lira and financial markets, with the BIST 100 stock index closing down nearly eight percent on Friday.
Turkish government detains Erdogan's main rival19.03.25, 09:42 • [views_14081]
