Turkiye protests: Crackdown widens, hundreds detained
Shafaq News/ Turkish authorities have stepped up a sweeping crackdown on protests triggered by the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, detaining hundreds of demonstrators, journalists, and lawyers — including minors — in recent days.
İmamoğlu, a leading opposition figure and key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was dismissed from office and jailed on Sunday. “This time, my lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan was arrested on fabricated charges,” the mayor wrote on X, referring to the lawyer who represented him in his latest legal case. “As if a coup against democracy weren’t enough — they can’t tolerate its victims defending themselves.”
Yasakçı akılda ne yalan biter ne de iftira. Bu sefer de uyduruk gerekçelerle avukatım Mehmet Pehlivan gözaltına alındı. Demokrasi darbesi yaptıkları yetmiyormuş gibi bu darbenin mağdurlarının kendilerini savunmasına da tahammül edemiyorlar. Demokrasi darbesine hukuk darbesini de…
— Ekrem İmamoğlu (@ekrem_imamoglu) March 27, 2025
The Izmir Bar Association denounced the arrest of two lawyers from the Aegean coastal city earlier this week. Both were later released.
The Journalists’ Union of Turkiye said two female reporters were arrested at dawn at their homes after covering protests outside Istanbul’s municipal building. The demonstrations were called by İmamoğlu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP). The two journalists, Nisa Sud Demirel and Elif Bayburt, work for media outlets critical of the government.
“Let journalists do their job. Stop these unlawful arrests,” the union said, echoing the global press freedom message: “Journalism is not a crime.”
According to the Interior Ministry, nearly 2,000 people have been detained since March 19 during demonstrations banned by the government. Authorities said that 260 of them have been jailed, while about 400 were released under judicial supervision.
On Thursday, Turkish authorities expelled BBC correspondent Mark Lowen, who had traveled to cover the unrest. The government said he posed a “threat to public order.”
That same day, a Turkish court ordered the release of 10 journalists arrested while reporting on what have become Turkiye’s largest anti-government protests in decades. Among those freed was AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, who had been detained early Monday morning at his home in Istanbul and released that evening.
Minors have also been among those targeted. According to the Istanbul Bar Association, at least 20 minors were detained between March 22 and 25. As of Friday, seven remained in custody. CHP lawmakers reported receiving testimonies from youth and minors alleging mistreatment in police custody.
Despite the crackdown, student-led protests gathered momentum Thursday night in Ankara and Istanbul, with crowds calling for democratic rights and justice. In Istanbul, police surrounding the demonstrators reportedly demanded to see their faces before allowing them to pass, prompting many to cover their faces to avoid identification, AFP said.
Student groups have called for classroom boycotts in response to the repression, with some reporting threats of expulsion from university administrators. In a symbolic move, the DISK labor union — one of Turkiye's largest — urged members to halt work at noon on Friday and gather at designated protest points. Students in Izmir also joined the call.
Defending the government’s response, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunç said Turkiye remains “a state governed by law” and insisted the judiciary is “independent and impartial.” He justified the mass detentions by claiming many of the protesters had "engaged in violence."
Tunç rejected suggestions that İmamoğlu’s arrest was politically motivated, calling allegations against Erdogan “unjust, unlawful, and baseless.”
“They’re trying to link a judicial investigation to our president,” he said. “We categorically reject these irresponsible statements.”
