Protests continue in Turkey over Istanbul mayor's detention

Turkish protesters took to the streets for a second consecutive night following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a separate corruption and terrorism investigation, Al Jazeera reported. 

Demonstrations were held at Istanbul’s City Hall on Thursday, where small groups of protesters scuffled with police as they tried to approach the city’s fenced-off Taksim Square – the site of mass demonstrations in 2013.

In Ankara, the Turkish capital, police used water cannon to disperse crowds at Middle East Technical University. Smaller protests were also reported in the city of Izmir, on the Turkish coast, and Adana, in southern Turkiye.

The mayor was arrested in a predawn raid on Wednesday, just days before he was due to announce his run for the presidency in 2028 as an opposition candidate. Also detained were dozens of prominent figures, including journalists, businesspeople and staff members of the Istanbul municipal government.

Imamoglu is a member of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) and is considered one of the top rivals of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He faces multiple charges, including “bribery, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud, and illegally obtaining personal data for profit as part of a criminal organisation”, along with separate charges for allegedly collaborating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in municipal elections.

The PKK is designated as a “terrorist organisation” in Turkiye and is behind a long-running rebellion aimed at creating an independent Kurdistan.