Flares light up Istanbul protest as thousands rally against the detention of mayor

Record ID: 1985122

  • Title: Flares light up Istanbul protest as thousands rally against the detention of mayor
  • Date: 21st March 2025
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MARCH 21, 2025) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS WITH FLAGS AND MASKS ADVANCING TOWARDS LINE OF POLICE PROTESTERS SHOUTING AND WAVING FLAGS POLICE FIRING PROJECTILES AND PEPPER SPRAY AT PROTESTERS WHO MARCH BACK PROTESTERS THROWING STONES AT POLICE/FLARE LANDS IN FRONT OF THEM POLICE PUTTING OUT FLARE MASS OF PROTESTERS IN SMALL GREEN, OPPOSITE POLICE MASS OF RIOT PO
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Erdogan Istanbul protests Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu flares istanbul mayor police tear gas
  • Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Europe,Middle East,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001080821032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Istanbul protest against the detention of the city's mayor descended into chaos on Friday evening (March 21) when the demonstrators tried to charge a line of riot police who responded by firing non lethal projectiles and using pepper spray.
    It was one of several protests in Turkey which have grown on Friday and turned increasingly tense in the country's biggest show of civil disobedience in more than a decade after President Tayyip Erdogan warned it would not be tolerated.
    All roads leading to Istanbul Municipality building in Sarachane district were closed under the governor's order, but thousands of people gathered despite the ban.
    Tensions could rise at the weekend when a court is expected to rule to formally arrest the mayor. Such a move could also accelerate a selloff in Turkish assets that has already prompted the central bank to intervene to protect the currency.
    The 54-year Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu faces charges including graft and aiding a terrorist group.
    According to a court document seen by Reuters on Friday, he denied corruption charges. "I strongly reject all allegations," he told police in his defence.
    The popular two-term mayor was asked at least 40 questions regarding municipality tenders, the document showed.
    (Production: Mehmet Emkin Caliskan, Amy Pollock, Yvonne Bell)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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