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Thousands Protest Istanbul Mayor's Detention

Thousands Protest Istanbul Mayor's Detention

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The demonstrators, numbering in the thousands, are reacting to the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is also a prominent politician and main rival of President Erdogan. The police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the protesters, resulting in dozens of arrests. The arrests also include those made in raids on Wednesday, with over 80 people detained on charges of graft and aiding a terrorist group.

Ursula Von Der Leyen
European Commission
1. We want Turkey to remain anchored to Europe, but this requires a clear commitment to democratic norms and practices.
2. Turkey is an EU candidate country. Turkey must uphold democratic values, especially the rights of elected officials.
Yılmaz Tunç
Justice and Development Party
1. Attempting to associate judicial investigations and cases with our president is, to say the least, an act of audacity and irresponsibility.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Justice and Development Party
1. An anticorruption operation in Istanbul is being used as an excuse to stir unrest in our streets. I want it to be known that we will not allow a handful of opportunists to bring unrest to Turkiye just to protect their plundering schemes.
2. Turkey is not a country that will be on the street – it will not surrender to street terrorism.
Ozgur Ozel
Republican People's Party
1. Mayor Ekrem is not involved in corruption, nor terror. He's not a thief nor a terrorist.
2. We believe Imamoglu will win. If his candidacy is blocked, we believe this will turn into much greater support.
3. They can do any evil. We are ready for any evil they can do. Because it is clear that the issue is not a political struggle, but a matter of existence or non-existence for the country.
4. I invite tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions to peacefully demonstrate, express our democratic reaction, and exercise our constitutional rights.
Dinushika Dissanayake
Amnesty International
1. While the weaponization of vague anti-terrorism allegations to detain and prosecute opponents is not new, these latest detentions and associated restrictions represent an alarming intensification of the targeting of real or perceived critics.
Gönül Töl
Middle East Institute
1. The international climate has Erdoğan feeling very confident.
2. The president of the United States is undermining democracy there, meaning the US is looking inward. He just doesn't care what other foreign autocrats are doing to their people. Those things are really impacting a global climate where autocrats think they can do whatever they want.

Thousands Protest Istanbul Mayor's Detention

Istanbul Mayor Corruption Probe

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