Istanbul
\nTurkiye said on Thursday it rejected \u201cprejudiced\u201d international statements over the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and the nationwide protests triggered by it, as authorities detained nearly 1,900 people taking part in the demonstrations.
\nImamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s biggest political rival who leads him in some polls, was jailed pending trial for graft on Sunday. His arrest prompted the largest anti-government protests in a decade and led to mass arrests across the country.
\nImamoglu\u2019s main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP), other opposition parties, rights groups and Western powers have all said the case against the mayor \u2014 dismissed from his job due to the case \u2014 was a politicised effort to eliminate a potential electoral threat to Erdogan.
\nThe government denies any influence over the judiciary and says the courts are independent.
\nSpeaking to international media representatives in Istanbul, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said Ankara had asked its European partners to act with \u201ccommon sense\u201d, adding the gravity of the allegations against Imamoglu required his arrest.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t want the arrest of any politician, but if there is evidence of a violation then it can happen,\u201d Tunc said through a translator.
\n\u201cIf we look at the gravity of the allegations, and as there is risk that evidence can be concealed, the judiciary has made a reasonable decision,\u201d he added.
\nThe CHP has called on Turks to continue protesting, saying it would organise rallies and gatherings at different locations in Istanbul and elsewhere. Erdogan has dismissed the protests as a \u201cshow\u201d and warned of legal consequences for protesters.
\nInterior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 1,879 people had been detained since the protests erupted last Wednesday, adding that courts jailed 260 of them pending trial. He added that 489 were released and 662 others were still being processed, while 150 police officers were injured.
\nRights groups have called on Turkiye to investigate what they called the excessive use of force by police while dispersing crowds and urged the government to allow the largely peaceful demonstrations. Western leaders have said the case marked democratic backsliding.
\nAsked about the timing of Imamoglu\u2019s arrest, which happened days ahead of his announcement as the CHP\u2019s presidential candidate in the next elections \u2014 set for 2028 \u2014 and following a months-long legal crackdown on the opposition, Tunc said the judiciary only looked at criminal reports.
\nThe minister added that being an elected official did not mean impunity.
\nHe also said Erdogan was not being informed about the case against Imamoglu due to the confidentiality of the case, though the president has made several comments accusing the CHP and its municipalities of corruption.
\nA day before Imamoglu was detained last week, a university annulled his diploma \u2014 an eligibility requirement for candidates in presidential elections.
\nAsked about the arrest and subsequent release of seven local journalists covering the demonstrations in Istanbul, including a photojournalist from Agence France Presse (AFP), Tunc said there was a misperception about Turkiye\u2019s treatment of journalists and that it did not jail reporters.
\nReporters Without Borders, a free speech advocate, ranked Turkiye 158th of 180 countries in its 2024 press freedom index. It said some 90 per cent of media was under government influence, prompting Turks to turn more to opposition or independent news outlets.
\nTunc said the index did not reflect the truth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Istanbul Turkiye said on Thursday it rejected \u201cprejudiced\u201d international statements over the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and the nationwide protests triggered by it, as authorities detained nearly 1,900 people taking part in the demonstrations. Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s biggest political rival who leads him in some polls, was jailed pending trial for graft […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-469590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n