Despite the crackdown, opposition activists promise to ‘not back down’, urging more people to take to streets.
Turkish police have detained 1,113 people across the country over five days of protests as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames the main opposition party for the unrest sparked by the detention of his main political rival.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed the total number of arrests on Monday after a fifth night of the largest anti-government protests the country has seen in more than a decade. They started after Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested on Wednesday and charged with corruption, aiding the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and leading a criminal organisation.
Speaking in Ankara on Monday, Erdogan slammed the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) for starting a “movement of violence”, adding that its “show” would eventually end and it would feel ashamed for the “evil” it did to the country.
Reporting from Istanbul, Al Jazeera’s Aksel Zaimovic said the arrests had not dimmed the opposition’s resolve. “They say they are not backing down. In fact, they are encouraging more people to come and join the rally that’s scheduled in a few hours from now.
“They are saying they should boycott what they perceive to be pro-government media, all the media outlets that are not covering these protests, but also companies that have ties with government,” he said.
Imamoglu is widely seen as the only politician who could pose a significant challenge to Erdogan, who has dominated Turkiye’s politics since 2003, first as prime minister and then as president.
The Turkish government denies that the arrest of Imamoglu was politically motivated, insisting that the nation’s courts are independent.
On Sunday, 53-year-old Imamoglu was stripped of his mayoral title and jailed in Silivri Prison on the outskirts of Istanbul pending trial on corruption charges that he denies. A further charge of “terrorism” was dismissed for the time being.
That same day, he was overwhelmingly voted in as the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential election with about 15 million people casting their ballots in a show of support for him.
The demonstrations began in Istanbul after Imamoglu’s arrest, spreading to more than 55 of Turkiye’s 81 provinces. Protesters have clashed with riot police who have deployed tear gas and water cannon.
Despite bans on street gatherings in many cities, the antigovernment demonstrations continued for a fifth consecutive night on Sunday with fierce clashes between protesters and riot police.
Before dawn on Monday, police detained 10 Turkish journalists at home, according to the Media and Law Studies Association rights group.
Detained journalists’ police statements completed, expected to be sent to the courthouse tomorrow
On the morning of March 24, at least 10 journalists were detained in dawn raids in Istanbul and Izmir.
The statements of the detained journalists have been completed and they are… pic.twitter.com/c949nEbvpg
— MLSA (@mlsaturkey) March 24, 2025
On Monday, young protesters held a rally next to the Besiktas port on the Bosphorus in Istanbul before the main nightly rally outside city hall, scheduled for 17:30 GMT.
Yerlikaya said 123 police officers had been injured during the protests so far, adding that the government would not allow “terrorising of the streets”.