Erdogan condemns Turkey’s protests as dozens of arrested

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned increasing protests in Turkey days after the arrest of a key opposition figure.

In Friday’s speech, Erdogan said his government would not “surrender” to “vandalism” or “street terror” before further protests. “We will not accept the interruption of public order.”

On Wednesday, police detained the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, one in more than 100 people detained on corruption and supporting terrorist groups.

Government critics gathered in cities in Turkey in protest, with the crowds accumulating in Istanbul and Izmir on Friday, opposing the bans on demonstrations. On Thursday, 53 people were arrested for protests, Interior Minister said.

Ozgur Ezel – the leader of the Imamoglu party, the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) – called for a third night protest outside the Istanbul mayoralty at 20:30 local time (17:30 GMT), saying that the president is afraid of the protests.

He also asked people elsewhere in Turkey to demonstrate quietly at the same time, anywhere in the country.

“Break these barricades without harming the police, go out on the streets and squares,” he said.

Authorities have tried to stifle the demonstrations on the street with a four -day ban on all gatherings in Istanbul, announced immediately after the arrests on Wednesday.

Since then, they have expanded this command to Ankara and the western coastal city of Izmir as the protests are distributed.

Prior to the protests on Friday, the governorian governor of Istanbul ordered the closure of the Galata and Attourk bridges, both crossing the mouth of the Golden Horn to the place where the City Hall is located.

Interior Minister Ali Jerlikaya is similarly criticized by the demonstrations, calling the opposition “irresponsible.”

Another 54 people have been arrested for violation of a law on “incitement of hate and hostility” through publication online, he said.

Tens of thousands have gathered in Turkey from arrests on Wednesday. There are increasingly more clashes with the police sent to disperse demonstrations that have fired tears and pepper spray.

Yerlikaya added that 16 police officers were injured in demonstrations.

The arrests of Imamoglu and others follow a major contribution across the country in recent months, aimed at opposition politicians, journalists and figures in the entertainment industry.

Opposition figures say the arrests are politically motivated. But the Ministry of Justice criticizes those who associate Erdogan with arrests and demand their judicial independence.

Imamoglu won a second term as mayor of Istanbul last year when his CHP party swept the local elections there in Ankara.

Erdogan came to power for the first time, his party defeated throughout the urn country.

The election was also a personal blow to the president, who grew up and became mayor of Istanbul at his rise in power.

Erdogan has been a position for the last 22 years, both Prime Minister and President of Turkey. Due to the limitations of the term, it cannot be re -ranked for position in 2028 unless the constitution changed.

The election of a candidate for President of CHP, in which 1.5 million members will vote, and Imamoglu is the only person to take place, should be held on Sunday.

The party also called on citizens to vote in symbolic elections, with plans to place ballots in areas across Turkey to show their support for the detained mayor.