Hundreds of thousands of people gathered last night in Saraçhane Park in front of the Istanbul Grand Municipality despite the governor's ban on public events, opposition TV channel Sözcu reported, BTA reported.
This is another, seventh night of protests in the city after the arrest of Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19 and his subsequent permanent arrest and removal from office. The park and surrounding streets in a large radius were blackened by people of all ages carrying national flags and posters of Ataturk and Ekrem İmamoğlu. People from more distant regions such as Tuzla, Gebze, Izmit also gathered at the rally.
They chanted slogans of solidarity, calls for the government to resign, demands for justice, and the release of those arrested. A total of 172 people are under pretrial detention for participating in the protest rallies against Imamoglu's arrest. Another 206 people are being held pending trial, which will decide whether to remain in custody, the Haberler portal reported.
A total of 11 journalists were detained, of which 8 were decided to remain in custody. Among those arrested are accredited journalists from leading media outlets such as NOW TV, Agence France-Presse, etc. Among those arrested is a young man named Berkay from Eskişehir, who is credited with the phrase “Everything will be fine” - a slogan with which Imamoglu won two consecutive terms as mayor of Istanbul.
A total of 1,418 people have been detained since March 19, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on the social network Ex. Turkish media reported that some of those arrested are in police stations because prisons near Istanbul are overcrowded. They are expected to be transferred to more distant districts, reported “Evrensel“.
“You have arrested so many people who want nothing but democracy that there is no room left in prisons“, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Özgür Özel, told participants in another protest rally in Istanbul last night.
Özel announced that there would be no rally in Saraçhane tonight. This night, called “Kadir Gecesi“, is sacred for Muslims. According to Islam, on this night, angels descend among people and it is considered a blessed night dedicated to asking for forgiveness, taking stock and repenting for the mistakes made.
“On this most blessed night, we will once again declare our unreserved support for our presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu, who was arrested on trumped-up charges. We will gather in Beylikduzu for an iftar dinner at the same time as he will open his iftar in Silivri prison, and thus we will be symbolically together”, said Özel.
According to him, the HRP will move the rallies to different areas of the metropolis, as well as to all regions of Turkey. “We are starting a series of protest rallies so that as many people as possible can participate. In the past two months alone, 250,000 people have become new members of the HDP. On Saturday at 12 noon, we will hold a rally in Maltepe Park, the largest open-air park in the Asian part of the metropolis. I call on everyone to be at this rally in order to write a new page in the history of democracy,” Özel said.
Meanwhile, measures are still in force in Istanbul, which have closed a number of metro stations in the city center and other areas.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that the disturbance of the peace of Turkish citizens must stop, the Anadolu Agency reported. He accused HDP leader Özel of "provocations" and said: "Stop disturbing the peace of our citizens with provocations. If you have the courage, hold accountable the corruption, theft and bribes taken".
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained on March 19 as part of investigations into corruption and terrorism, which sparked a wave of protests.
On March 23, in an internal election, the HDP nominated İmamoğlu as its presidential candidate for the presidential election, which is scheduled to be held in 2028. Today, the Istanbul Municipal Council is to elect an interim mayor to replace İmamoğlu.