The recent arrest of Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and main rival of President Erdoğan has sparked the largest protests in Turkey in a decade, with over 1,100 people detained in demonstrations across the country.
The Istanbul mayor and 106 other municipal officials and politicians were detained on March 19 for what Human Rights Watch called a politically motivated move to stifle lawful political activities.
“By forcing Imamoglu out of politics, the government has crossed the line that separates Turkey’s competitive authoritarian regime from a full, Russian-style autocracy in which the president handpicks his opponents and elections are purely for show,” Gonul Tol, Director of Turkish Program at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.
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A spokesperson from Turkey’s embassy in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital that Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 1,133 people have been detained since the arrest of the mayor, and around 123 police officers have been injured since the start of protests. Yerlikaya also alleged that weapons were seized during the protests and the individuals detained were found to have ties to different terrorist organizations and prior criminal records.
Some experts believe the move was orchestrated by Erdoğan to sideline the opposition, silence political dissent and increase his own power.
“This is a dark time for democracy in Turkey, with such a blatantly lawless move to weaponize the justice system to cancel the democratic process,” Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
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In an address to celebrate the festival of Nowruz on Friday, Erdoğan said Turkey was not a country that was found on the street and will not submit to street terrorism.
“We will not allow public order to be damaged. We will not give in to vandalism or street terrorism,” Erdoğan said, according to Reuters.
The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) held a symbolic primary vote over the weekend and nominated İmamoğlu to be the party’s candidate for president to face Erdoğan in the 2028 elections.
Despite the increased repression and threats to their own safety and security, the Turkish opposition does not yet seem to be backing down.
“We, as the main opposition party that emerged as the first party in the last local elections in March 2024, will stand firm and resist any kind of oppression by the government,” İlhan Uzgel, CHP Deputy Chairman for Foreign Policy, told Fox News Digital.
Uzgel said Erdoğan seems frightened of losing power, and is urging opposition supporters to take to the streets to defend democracy, challenge lawlessness, and challenge the Erdoğan government’s abuse of power.
“We are happy to see that our people take to the streets despite the occasional use of force by the riot police, and demonstrate peacefully, which is a constitutional right,” he added.
Imamoglu, who is presently jailed and is awaiting trial on corruption charges, was viewed as the most serious challenger to the decades-long rule of Erdoğan. His detention will likely keep him out of the political opposition for the foreseeable future, dealing a huge blow to Turkey’s pro-democracy movement.
Tol of the Middle East Institute said Erdoğan is banking on people’s anger dissipating over time and that the mass protests will eventually die down. The election is not scheduled until 2028, and people, Erdoğan hopes, will most likely forget and move on.
The danger, according to Tol, is that street protests in the Middle East and elsewhere tend to go in many different directions, and there is no telling how long the public anger over the arrests will last and how much more popular support the movement will gain.
İmamoğlu, member of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), was elected mayor of Istanbul in 2019 and re-elected in 2023. In both elections, he defeated Erdoğan-backed opponents.
Turkey’s problems come at a time when President Trump is reportedly considering lifting sanctions on the NATO member and resuming the sale of F-35 fighter jets following a recent phone call with Erdoğan.
Reuters contributed to this article.
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