Turkey’s Protest Movement Rises Despite Erdogan’s Dismissal and Mass Arrests

In the face of mass arrests, police crackdowns, and official bans, anti-government protests continue to swell across Turkey following the jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, marking the largest opposition uprising since the 2013 Gezi Park movement.

While President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has dismissed the protests as a “show” and branded them “street terrorism,” the demonstrations have only grown, with hundreds of thousands gathering nightly in city squares, parks, and university campuses, demanding justice, democracy, and İmamoğlu’s release.

From Saraçhane to Galata: A Movement Spreads

The epicenter of the protests has been Saraçhane Park, nestled between Istanbul’s city hall and a Roman aqueduct, where crowds have rallied each evening despite the threat of detention. Protesters cheer speeches by opposition leaders, wave flags, and chant slogans—often face-to-face with lines of riot police wielding shields, batons, and pepper spray.

“I was scared at first, but I’m not scared now,” said one university student in Saraçhane.
“The government has left us no justice.”

Elsewhere, in Kadıköy, the protests have taken on a more peaceful tone, with elderly citizens walking arm-in-arm with tattooed students, shopkeepers placing İmamoğlu’s photo in their windows, and residents banging pots and pans from balconies in support of the mayor.

On Monday evening, a sit-in at the Galata Bridge briefly blocked traffic across the Golden Horn, symbolizing the growing reach and creativity of the movement.

CHP Shifts Into High Gear

The protests have energized the previously more reserved Republican People's Party (CHP). Its leader, Özgür Özel, has delivered impassioned nightly speeches from atop a bus in Saraçhane and vowed to continue mobilization efforts across the country.

Özel described Tuesday night’s final Saraçhane gathering as both a "great end and big kick-off" for a nationwide campaign, including a major rally this Saturday to launch İmamoğlu’s 2028 presidential candidacy.

The CHP-majority city council is set to elect an acting mayor on Wednesday, further solidifying the party’s refusal to cede political ground.

Crackdown Intensifies

Despite the mostly peaceful character of the protests, Turkish authorities have detained more than 1,400 people, including seven journalists, one of whom is AFP photographer Yasin Akgül, now jailed pending trial. Many were arrested on charges of “refusing to disperse” during demonstrations.

Meanwhile, university students have boycotted classes, and professors staged a one-day strike on Tuesday in solidarity. The United Nations Human Rights Office has urged Turkey to uphold the right to peaceful protest, citing international law.

Yet Erdoğan remains defiant. Speaking at a Ramadan fast-breaking meal on Monday, he warned that those seeking to "terrorize" the country are on “a dead-end path” and accused the CHP of sowing chaos.