A week after the Turkish government was arrested by the mayor of Constantinople, who is the leading opponent with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the political opposition on Wednesday pushed new tactics to fight what is called an attack on the Republic.
The arrest has caused nightly demonstrations that have taken hundreds of thousands of compensated demonstrators on the streets of Constantinople and other cities. Now, Mr Erdogan’s opponents are calling on the Turks to boycott companies to support Mr Erdogan and swear to organize a massive protest on Saturday as the smaller gatherings.
The shift of tactics, including the possession of public rapid meals for the people who observed the Muslim sacred month of Ramadan-came amid government repression to protesters. The government has issued protest bans in large cities and limited access to social media sites. Some protesters clashed with riot police using water cannons and pepper spray to clean them from the streets.
More than 1,300 people have been arrested in recent days compared to the demonstrations, the interior ministry said, and in about 170 they were imprisoned in terms of the trial. The detainees included 11 journalists, some of whom remained in custody on Wednesday, including a photographer for Agency France-Presse.
The government has accused Mr Imamoglu, 54, to lead a criminal organization to the Town Hall and accept bribery, eliminate bids and abuse citizens’ personal data. Has denied the categories.
Mr Erdogan described the protesters, many of whom are students, as violent vandals, and accused the country’s main party of mixing problems to distract the charges against the mayor.
“A large country like Turkey has a very small, very underdeveloped, very inadequate main opposition party,” Mr Erdogan said on Monday. “It is clear that you cannot even trust them to run a snack shop, let alone the state or municipalities.”
While some European leaders have called on Turkey to support the rule of law, senior White House officials have not publicly commented on Mr Imamoglu’s arrest.
President Trump completed Turkey and Mr Erdogan at a meeting on Tuesday with candidates. “Good position,” said Trump. “A good leader, too.”
On Wednesday, the Istanbul City Council elected a temporary mayor – Nuri Aslan, who previously served as Deputy Head of the Council – to run the city of 16 million people, while Mr Imamoglu remained in custody. The opposition holds a majority in the Council.
The leader of Mr Izgur Ozel’s Republican People’s Party, Ozgur Ozel, has criticized intergovernmental news stores because it does not sufficiently cover protests. And the party has requested a boycott of Turkish businesses associated with these stores.
A website that started to coordinate the boycott lists the names and logos of the 20 companies, including many television channels, a popular chain of coffee, an online bookstore and a tour of Mr. Erdogan’s tourism minister.
Criticizing the call for boycott, Mr Erdogan accused the opposition on Wednesday to “sink the economy” with its protests and to be “so frenzied that they will throw the country and the nation into the fire”.
Mr Erdogan, 71, who led Turkey as prime minister and president since 2003, is in his second presidential term, which expires in 2028. The Constitution prevents him from running again unless parliament requires early elections, which are widely expected.
Many in Turkey say they believe that sudden moves against Mr Imamoglu last week tried to block him from the presidential race before he started.
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
English
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish