Protesters took to the streets of Istanbul on a fourth night of demonstrations over the arrest of the city’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. İmamoğlu and more than 100 other people were served detention orders and accused of embezzlement and corruption – charges the mayor denies. İmamoğlu is tipped to become the Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party’s [CHP] presidential candidate. Speaking at a demonstration on Saturday, the current CHP president said: ‘Tonight, we are ready to defend Sarachane [Istanbul municipality building] to defend Mayor Ekrem and to march to Caglayan [courthouse] if necessary.’ President Erdoğan condemned the opposition party’s stance. He said: ‘They [CHP] attempted to provoke our nation over this corruption operation … with street terrorism.’
Turkey’s protests over Istanbul mayor grow into ‘fight about democracy’
