ISTANBUL: President Tayyip Erdogan warned on Friday that Turkiye would not tolerate street violence or public disruptions after the detention of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu prompted some of the biggest shows of civil disobedience in more than a decade.
“We will not accept the disruption of public order. Just as we have never yielded to street terrorism, we will not surrender to vandalism,” Erdogan, 71, told an audience in the capital Ankara.
The warning came after thousands of people protested for two days in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities, including at university campuses, leading to some clashes. Police used water cannon to disperse some crowds and have closed down streets.
More demonstrations are planned later on Friday and tensions could rise at the weekend when a court is expected to rule to formally arrest Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival who leads him in some opinion polls.
An arrest could also accelerate a three-day selloff in Turkish assets that prompted the central bank to intervene to protect the currency.
Imamoglu, 54, was detained on Wednesday facing charges including graft and aiding a terrorist group. His Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition, condemned the move as politically motivated and urged supporters to demonstrate lawfully.
European leaders have called the detention a sign of democratic backsliding in Turkiye.
Erdogan said it was “a dead end” to take to the streets. “Pointing to the streets instead of the courts to defend theft, looting, illegality, and fraud is gravely irresponsible,” he said.
Authorities imposed a four-day ban after the detention and said that 53 people were detained during protests on Thursday.
CRACKDOWN AND PROTESTS
Turkiye has curbed civil disobedience since nationwide 2013 Gezi Park protests against the government which prompted a violent state crackdown seen as one of the main pivots toward autocracy under Erdogan’s 22-year reign.
The detention of Imamoglu, the two-term mayor of Turkiye’s largest city, caps a months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures that critics say is designed to undermine their electoral prospects.
The government denies the charges and says the judiciary is independent.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel has said Erdogan fears street protests, called the bans on demonstrations illegal, and has urged people to demonstrate peacefully in defense of their voting rights.
“Break down those barricades without harming the police, take to the streets and squares,” he said.
On Sunday, the CHP is set to announce Imamoglu as its presidential candidate for the next elections and the party has called for non-party members to vote to boost public resistance.
The next election is set for 2028 but, if Erdogan will be elegible to run again, parliament must schedule them earlier.
Seeking to avoid further legal hurdles, Ozel said the CHP would convene an extraordinary congress on April 6 to prevent authorities from appointing an outside trustee to the party. An Ankara prosecutor had opened an earlier probe into alleged irregularities around its last congress in 2023.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
Turkish financial markets reacted sharply to the detention with investors worries about eroding rule of law, with the lira and bonds tumbling and Istanbul shares down 8 percent on Friday.
The central bank raised its overnight rate unexpectedly and spent about $10 billion in foreign reserves on Wednesday to stabilize the currency, which plunged by 12 percent to an all-time low that day. Inflation was 39 percent last month.
In an interview with Reuters, Ozel said the CHP would resist any attempts to remove him and other party officials from the municipal offices where they have been staying since Imamoglu’s detention, and where protests are centered.
A government appointee could replace the mayor due to the charges against him, which include aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), deemed a terrorist organization by Turkiye and its Western allies.
Imamoglu’s detention also followed the annulment of his university degree, which, if upheld, would block him from running for president under constitutional rules requiring candidates to hold a four-year degree.
