Скачать или смотреть Police and protesters clashed in Istanbul on Saturday while detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu w

(22 Mar 2025)
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Istanbul - 22 March 2025
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Wide of protesters shouting and police advancing spreading pepper gas
2. Various of crowd carrying Turkish flags protesting
3. Various of police shooting tear gas and pepper gas on demonstrators
4. Man holding a banner reading (Turkish) "Revolution party, all our people are invited.”
5. Smoke from a fire being extinguished by the police during the demonstration
6. Mid of police deployed
STORYLINE:
Police and protesters clashed outside the Istanbul City Hall on Saturday while detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was questioned at the courthouse, over allegations of corruption and terror links.

Crowds began to rally outside the city hall for a fourth night in a show of support to the mayor. Others gathered outside the courthouse.

His arrest this week intensified political tensions and sparked widespread protests across Turkey, with demonstrators rallying in multiple cities to voice their opposition.

Police questioned Imamoglu for around five hours on Saturday as part of an investigation into allegations of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, the Cumhuriyet newspaper reported. A day earlier he was questioned for four hours over the corruption accusations. The mayor rejected all charges during both interrogations.

He was later transferred to a courthouse for questioning by prosecutors along with some 90 other people who were also detained with him.

The authorities barred access to the courthouse using barricades on local roads and closing nearby metro stations. Hundreds of police officers and over a dozen water cannon trucks were deployed. Still, hundreds gathered in front of the building shouting: “Rights, law, justice!”

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted on social media that 343 suspects had been detained in protests in major cities on Friday night, adding: “There will be no tolerance for those who seek to violate societal order, threaten the people’s peace and security, and pursue chaos and provocation.” The cities listed included Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Canakkale, Eskisehir, Konya and Edirne.

The mayor, who is a popular opposition figure and seen as a top challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained on Wednesday following a dawn raid on his residence over allegations of financial crimes and links to Kurdish militants. Dozens of other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained.

Many view the arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove a popular opposition figure and key challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028. Government officials reject accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently.

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