International Human rights activists denounce police violence in Turkey
Shortly before a planned large-scale demonstration in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul, human rights organizations have called on the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop the attacks on peaceful demonstrators. In a joint statement, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and 13 other organizations said they were alarmed "by the recent escalation of state crackdowns on freedom of expression and assembly following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoglu". According to a survey, the protests are supported by a majority of Turks.
28.03.2025, 09:50
SDA
The police are cracking down on protesters, sometimes brutally. Sezgin Tanrikulu, a politician and lawyer active for the largest opposition party, also accused the police of sexual violence. Exact numbers of injured demonstrators are not published, the police only speak of more than 100 injured officers.
Thousands also protest on Thursday
Meanwhile, the protests in various cities across the country continued on Thursday. Thousands of people reportedly demonstrated for the ninth evening in a row - including in Izmir, Istanbul and the capital Ankara. Once again, numerous people were arrested.
The Turkish opposition called for the large demonstration in Istanbul on Saturday. CHP leader Özgür Özel said that the protests would continue until an early presidential election was called or the now deposed Istanbul mayor Imamoglu was released from prison.
Since Imamoglu's arrest on March 19, tens of thousands of people have been demonstrating daily in Turkey, mostly peacefully, against Erdogan's government. The demonstrators accuse the president of trying to use the judiciary to politically immobilize the popular opposition politician Imamoglu. The popular opposition politician was previously thought to have a chance of beating Erdogan in the next presidential election.
According to the Turkish Ministry of the Interior, almost 1,900 people have been temporarily detained since the protests began, including several journalists. The protests, which Erdogan described as a "violent movement" instigated by the opposition, were banned in several cities. In Istanbul, the governor's office has since allowed this ban on protests to expire.
Human rights activists: police use plastic bullets indiscriminately
In their statement, the human rights organizations also complained that the protests had been met with "unjustified and unlawful police violence". People were beaten with batons and kicked when they were lying on the ground. Police officers had indiscriminately used pepper spray, tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons against the demonstrators, resulting in numerous injuries.
Blanket bans on demonstrations such as those in Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya and Izmir are disproportionate and cannot be justified. The media must be allowed to provide the public with the necessary information and report on events free from state pressure, it said, also with regard to repression against TV stations critical of the government. Several journalists' associations and the writers' association PEN International are also among the signatories to the declaration.
Survey: majority of Turks support protests
Meanwhile, the Konda polling institute announced via the X platform that a majority of people in Turkey support the protests against the removal of the Istanbul mayor, according to a survey. 21 percent of those surveyed considered protest to be justified, while 52 percent were in favor of the resistance as long as it did not endanger public order. 27 percent were against the protests.
The government's actions were also criticized by Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk. In an article on the news site "T24", he wrote of "frightening political developments". The already limited democracy in authoritarian-ruled Turkey ends with "the candidate who is most popular with the people and receives the most votes in the next election being thrown into prison".
Media regulator imposes harsh penalties on TV broadcasters
According to the Anka news agency, demonstrators marched in front of the headquarters of the Rtük media regulator in Istanbul on Thursday after it imposed harsh penalties on several opposition broadcasters - including a ten-day ban on Sözcü TV. According to the report, people chanted "Free press, free Turkey". A protest in front of a shopping center in Istanbul's Sisli district was prevented by the police and broken up with numerous arrests, as the "Bianet" portal reported.
