Turkish police arrest reporters and over a thousand protesters
Press Hub UCapital
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The arrest of Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu on Sunday sparked a wave of protests, which continued yesterday, during which Turkish police arrested around 1,133 people. On Monday evening, tens of thousands of protesters gathered peacefully in front of the capital's city hall to protest Imamoglu’s arrest. Imamoglu is the main political rival of Turkish President Erdoğan and is currently under investigation for corruption and terrorism. If found guilty of the latter charge, he would be barred from running for public office.
Turkey’s major press unions, including the Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) and the Press Workers Union (Disk Basin-Is), stated that on Monday, police raided homes of many journalists and arrested them. Additionally, the two unions released similar statements claiming that police beat journalists, fired rubber bullets, and destroyed their equipment. Among those involved were international reporters like Dilara Şenkaya from Reuters, and according to the Disk-Basin-Is union, at least eight journalists and photojournalists were arrested during the protests.
Meanwhile, President Erdoğan accused the opposition of deliberately causing public disorder and stated that the leader of the Chp, Ozgur Ozel, would be held responsible for the protests in parliament. However, yesterday, Ozel directly addressed the protesters, urging them to protest peacefully, not to attack the police, and suggested a boycott of state television and businesses close to the Turkish government.
Turkey’s major press unions, including the Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) and the Press Workers Union (Disk Basin-Is), stated that on Monday, police raided homes of many journalists and arrested them. Additionally, the two unions released similar statements claiming that police beat journalists, fired rubber bullets, and destroyed their equipment. Among those involved were international reporters like Dilara Şenkaya from Reuters, and according to the Disk-Basin-Is union, at least eight journalists and photojournalists were arrested during the protests.
Meanwhile, President Erdoğan accused the opposition of deliberately causing public disorder and stated that the leader of the Chp, Ozgur Ozel, would be held responsible for the protests in parliament. However, yesterday, Ozel directly addressed the protesters, urging them to protest peacefully, not to attack the police, and suggested a boycott of state television and businesses close to the Turkish government.