Erdogan condemns Turkey protests as dozens arrested

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned growing protests in Turkey days after the arrest of a key opposition figure.

In a speech on Friday, Erdogan said his government would not “surrender” to “vandalism” or “street terror” ahead of more planned protests. “We will not accept the disruption of public order.”

On Wednesday, police detained Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, one of more than 100 people held on charges of corruption and aiding terrorist groups.

Government critics have gathered in cities across Turkey in protest, with crowds amassing again in Istanbul and Izmir on Friday, defying bans on demonstrations. On Thursday, 53 people were arrested at protests, the interior minister said.

Ozgur Ozel – leader of Imamoglu’s party, the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) – has called for a third nightly protest outside Istanbul’s city hall at 20:30 local time (17:30 GMT), saying that the president is afraid of the protests.

He also asked people elsewhere in Turkey to demonstrate peacefully at the same time, wherever they are in the country.

“Break down those barricades without harming the police, take to the streets and squares,” he said.

Authorities tried to stifle the street demonstrations with a four-day ban on all gatherings in Istanbul, announced straight after the arrests on Wednesday.

They have since extended this order to Ankara and the western coastal city of Izmir as protests have spread.

Ahead of Friday’s protests, Istanbul’s pro-Erdogan governor has ordered the closure of the Galata and Ataturk bridges, both of which cross the Golden Horn estuary to where city hall is located.

Interior minister Ali Yerlikaya has similarly criticised the demonstrations, calling the opposition “irresponsible”.

Another 54 people have been arrested for violating a law on “inciting the public to hatred and hostility” by posting online, he said.

Tens of thousands have gathered across Turkey since Wednesday’s arrests. There have been increasing clashes with police sent to disperse the demonstrations, who have fired tear gas and pepper spray.

Yerlikaya added that 16 police officers have been injured in the demonstrations.

The arrests of Imamoglu and others follow a major nationwide crackdown in recent months, targeting opposition politicians, journalists and figures in the entertainment industry.

Opposition figures say the arrests are politically motivated. But the justice ministry has criticised those who link Erdogan to the arrests, and insist on their judicial independence.

Imamoglu won a second term as Istanbul’s mayor last year, when his CHP party swept local elections there and in Ankara.

It was the first time since Erdogan came to power that his party was defeated across the country at the ballot box.

The elections were also a personal blow to the president, who grew up in and became mayor of Istanbul on his rise to power.

Erdogan has held office for the past 22 years, as both prime minister and president of Turkey. Due to term limits, he cannot run for office again in 2028 unless he changes the constitution.

The CHP’s presidential candidate selection, in which 1.5 million members will vote and Imamoglu is the only person running, is set to take place on Sunday.

The party has also called on citizens to vote in a symbolic election, with plans to place ballot boxes in districts all over Turkey for people to show their support for the detained mayor.