Erdogan condemns Türkiye’s protests when dozen arrested

President Rece Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the growing protests in Türkiye days after the arrest of a key opposition figure.

In a speech on Friday, Erdogan said his government would not “give up” to “vandalism” or “street terror” before the most planned protests. “We will not accept the interruption of public order.”

On Wednesday, the police arrested the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, one of the more than 100 people arrested for corruption positions and helping terrorist groups.

Government critics have met in cities in Türkiye in protest, with crowds accumulating again in Istanbul and Izmir on Friday, challenging prohibitions of demonstrations. On Thursday, 53 people were arrested for protests, said Interior Minister.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of the Imamoglu party, the Secular Republican Popular Party (CHP), has requested a third night protest outside the City of Estanbul at 20:30 local time (17:30 GMT), saying that the president is afraid of the protests.

He also asked people in other parts of Türkiye to demonstrate peacefully at the same time, wherever they are in the country.

“I broke down those barricades without damaging the police, take to the streets and squares,” he said.

The authorities tried to quell the street demonstrations with a four -day ban on all meetings in Istanbul, announced immediately after Wednesday’s arrests.

Since then, they have extended this order to Ankara and the western coastal city of Izmir as the protests have spread.

Before Friday’s protests, Governor Pro-Erdogan de Istanbul ordered the closure of the Galata and Ataturk bridges, which cross the golden horn there where the City Council is located.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has similarly criticized the demonstrations, qualifying the “irresponsible” opposition.

Another 54 people have been arrested for violating a law on “inciting the public to hatred and hostility” by publishing online, he said.

Tens of thousands have gathered throughout Türkiye since the arrests on Wednesday. There have been increasing confrontations with the police sent to disperse the demonstrations, which have fired tear gas and pepper spray.

Yerlikaya added that 16 police officers were injured in the demonstrations.

Imamoglu arrests and others follow a great repression throughout the country in recent months, aimed at politicians, journalists and opposition figures in the entertainment industry.

Opposition figures say arrests are politically motivated. But the Ministry of Justice has criticized those who link Erdogan with arrests and insist on their judicial independence.

Imamoglu won a second term as mayor of Istanbul last year, when his ChP party swept the local elections there and in Ankara.

It was the first time since Erdogan came to power that his party was defeated throughout the country at the polls.

The elections were also a personal blow for the president, who grew and became mayor of Istanbul in his rise to power.

Erdogan has held a position during the last 22 years, as prime minister and president of Türkiye. Due to the deadline limits, it cannot be applied again in office in 2028 unless the Constitution changes.

The selection of presidential candidates of the CHP, in which 1.5 million members will vote and Imamoglu is the only person who runs, will take place on Sunday.

The party has also asked citizens to vote in a symbolic election, with plans to place the polls in the districts throughout Türkiye so that people show their support to the detained mayor.