ISTANBUL: President Tayyip Erdogan warned on Friday that Turkiye would not tolerate street violence or public disruptions after the detention of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu prompted some of the biggest shows of civil disobedience in more than a decade.

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

The warning came after thousands of people protested for two days in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities, including at university campuses, leading to some clashes. Police used water cannon to disperse some crowds and have closed down streets.

More demonstrations are planned this week and tensions could rise at the weekend when a court is expected to rule to formally arrest Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival who leads him in some opinion polls.

An arrest could also accelerate a three-day selloff in Turkish assets that prompted the central bank to intervene to protect the currency.

Imamoglu, 54, was detained on Wednesday facing charges including graft and aiding a terrorist group. His Republican Peoples Party (CHP), the main opposition, condemned the move as politically motivated and urged supporters to demonstrate lawfully.

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

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.

Authorities imposed a four-day ban after the detention and said that 53 people were detained during protests on Thursday.

Crackdown and protests

Turkiye has curbed civil disobedience since nationwide 2013 Gezi Park protests against the government which 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 Turkiye’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.

Ozgur Ozel, the CHP leader, 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.

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.

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.

Turkish financial markets reacted sharply to the detention with investors worries about eroding rule of law, with the lira and bonds tumbling and Istanbul shares down eight per cent on Friday.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2025