Tense protests grow in Turkey over Istanbul mayor's detention

By Tuvan Gumrukcu, Mert Ozkan, Mehmet Emin Caliskan and Ece Toksabay

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Protests against the detention of Istanbul's mayor grew on Friday and turned increasingly tense, Turkey's biggest show of civil disobedience in more than a decade after President Tayyip Erdogan warned it would not be tolerated.

Tens of thousands of Turks have taken to the streets in mostly peaceful demonstrations since Wednesday, when Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was detained and charged. He is Erdogan's main political rival who leads him in some opinion polls.

The mayor's Republican People's Party (CHP), the main opposition, condemned the move as politically motivated and urged supporters to demonstrate lawfully.

"We will not accept the disruption of public order," Erdogan, 71, told an audience in Istanbul. "Just as we have never yielded to street terrorism, we will not surrender to vandalism."

The protests, including at university campuses, took place despite a four-day ban on gatherings imposed after the detention.

On Friday evening, big rallies in several cities including Istanbul were held with a call from the CHP. In Istanbul, all roads leading to the Municipality building in Sarachane district were closed under the governor's order, but thousands of people gathered despite the ban.

In his address, CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said some 300,000 people gathered. As Ozel spoke, police used pepper spray and water cannons to disperse the crowd, and protesters charged at police barricades and threw projectiles. In Izmir, Ankara and other cities, there were also clashes with riot police, who used water cannons on crowds.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a post on X that 97 people across Turkey were detained during demonstrations.

Tensions could rise at the weekend when a court is expected to rule to formally arrest the mayor. Such a move could also accelerate a selloff in Turkish assets that has already prompted the central bank to intervene to protect the currency.

Imamoglu, 54, faces charges including graft and aiding a terrorist group.

According to a court document seen by Reuters on Friday, he denied corruption charges. "I strongly reject all allegations," he told police in his defence.

The popular two-term mayor was asked at least 40 questions regarding municipality tenders, the document showed.

European leaders have called the detention a sign of democratic backsliding in Turkey.

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.

CRACKDOWN AND PROTESTS

Turkey has curbed civil disobedience since nationwide 2013 Gezi Park protests against the government 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 Turkey'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 Ozel has said Erdogan fears street protests, called the bans on demonstrations illegal, and has urged people to demonstrate peacefully in defence of their voting rights.

"Break down those barricades without harming the police, take to the streets and squares," he said before the Friday clashes.

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. If Erdogan will be eligible 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 have been roiled since the detention. The lira and bonds tumbled and Istanbul shares dropped nearly 8% on Friday.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek told bankers that temporary market fluctuations were being monitored closely and necessary measures were being taken, according to a readout of the meeting from Turkey's Banks Association.

The central bank this week raised its overnight rate unexpectedly and spent about $10 billion in foreign reserves on Wednesday to stabilize the currency, which plunged by 12% to an all-time low that day. Inflation was 39% last month.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, 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 centred.

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 Turkey and its Western allies.

After the jailed PKK leader called on the group to disarm last month, Imamoglu's detention risks undermining the government's move to end its 40-year-old insurgency - a plan relying heavily on delicate cooperation with the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, which has said the mayor must be released.

(Additional reporting and writing by Jonathan Spicer, Huseyin Hayatsever and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Angus MacSwan and David Gregorio)