Over 1,400 detained amid protests: Yerlikaya
ANKARA
More than 1,400 people have been detained in connection with the mass protests that have swept Türkiye since March 19, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday.
"To date, 1,418 suspects have been detained in illegal demonstrations held since March 19, 2025," he wrote on X.
Following İmamoğlu’s detention, the Istanbul Governor’s Office issued a four-day ban on March 19, prohibiting all manner of marches and gatherings across the metropolis.
Amid escalating calls for street demonstrations for the weekend, authorities in Ankara and İzmir imposed five-day restrictions on March 21, further tightening the ban.
The investigation accuses the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) of aiding the PKK/KCK terrorist group, igniting unrest nationwide in recent days.
Justice minister vows accountability
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç has vowed that those inciting unrest on the streets in response to the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu will be held to account.
“In a state governed by the rule of law, legal defense is not conducted on the streets. The vandals who stirred up the streets are being identified one by one. Anyone who commits a crime will be held accountable before justice. We will persist in safeguarding public order,” Tunç said in Ankara on March 25.
Underscoring that violent demonstrations are fundamentally incompatible with human rights, Tunç issued a warning against the “terrorization” of the streets.
“The Turkish judiciary has been attacked with lies for days. Our police force is being deliberately targeted through highly perilous provocations.”
The justice minister also criticized main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel over remarks he made during a CNN interview on March 24.
“To declare on a foreign media platform that the judiciary in Türkiye is not independent constitutes nothing less than a pernicious disinformation campaign,” Tunç asserted.
Furthermore, he slammed Özel for his economic boycott appeal.
“This boycott call is a direct assault on our economy. For media institutions to be singled out in a hostile manner constitutes an affront to press freedom.”
On March 24, Özel explicitly named a group of corporations, accusing them of aligning with the government while disregarding the opposition, and urged the public to boycott them.
