Turkey’s main opposition leader vowed on Sunday to continue nationwide protests over the jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan’s top political rival, in a push to maintain the country’s largest wave of demonstrations in over a decade.
The protests erupted on March 19 following Imamoglu’s detention on corruption charges—accusations the opposition, rights groups, and several European leaders have denounced as politically motivated. Imamoglu, a leading figure in the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was widely viewed as a potential challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential election.
While the government insists the judiciary is independent, critics say Imamoglu’s arrest is part of a broader crackdown on dissent.
At an extraordinary CHP congress in Ankara—convened after prosecutors launched a probe into the party’s 2023 congress—CHP leader Ozgur Ozel was re-elected and pledged to escalate protests. He announced that the party would hold demonstrations in a different city each weekend and weekly rallies in various Istanbul districts.
“Every Wednesday, we’ll rally in Istanbul. Every weekend, we’ll rally in a different city,” Ozel told supporters. He also addressed a crowd outside the congress venue, renewing the party’s call for early elections.
Although no national vote is scheduled until 2028, Erdogan would need an early election to seek another term, as he will hit his constitutional limit by then. Imamoglu currently leads Erdogan in several opinion polls.
The CHP has launched a petition demanding Imamoglu’s release and early elections, with more than 7 million signatures collected so far. Additionally, nearly 15 million party members voted for Imamoglu as their presidential candidate in an internal poll held on March 23, just days after his arrest.
The protests, largely peaceful, have drawn hundreds of thousands of people, including university students. Authorities have detained nearly 2,000 demonstrators, with about 300 jailed pending trial.