Government Accountability

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Türkiye for the seventh consecutive night following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on corruption charges. The mass protests—which have seen over 1,100 people arrested so far—underscore deep-seated public anger and a widespread belief that the detention of Imamoglu is a politically motivated maneuver by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to eliminate a key rival ahead of upcoming elections.

For the past five nights, hundreds of thousands of people have flooded the streets of Türkiye in a massive show of protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. The dramatic scenes, captured under the cover of night, reveal a country on edge—flames and fireworks illuminating determined crowds, while riot police deploy rubber bullets, pepper spray, and water cannons in a bid to quell the unrest. The arrest of Imamoglu, a popular opposition figure and rising star of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has sparked what is being hailed as the largest wave of street demonstrations in Türkiye for over a decade.