- Title: Police and protesters trade pepper spray and flares in Istanbul
- Date: 23rd March 2025
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MARCH 23, 2025) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS WAVING FLAGS PROTESTERS IN FRONT OF RIOT POLICE LINE POLICE LINE AND PROTESTERS PROTESTERS JUMPING AND CHANTING PROTESTERS BOOING POLICE, POLICE USING PEPPER SPRAY POLICE ADVANCING ON PROTESTERS WITH PEPPER SPRAY CANS, PROTESTERS RETREATING VARIOUS OF FIRECRACKERS EXPLODING IN FRONT OF POLICE LINE PROTESTERS WITH FLARE
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: CHP Istanbul major jailed Istanbul protest Turkish police opposition supporters
- Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Middle East,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA001111523032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Anti-government protesters and police clashed again in Istanbul on Sunday night (March 23) after a Turkish court jailed the city's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, pending trial on corruption charges.
The decision to send Imamoglu to jail has inflamed the country's biggest protests in more than a decade and comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and tens of thousands of protesters criticised the actions against him as politicised and undemocratic.
Imamoglu is seen as President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival.
Thousands of members of his opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) travelled to polling stations on Sunday to vote Imamoglu as the party's candidate for the next presidential election.
As the courtroom developments unfolded, there were signs that the mayor's troubles were galvanising the opposition against Erdogan's government, which has run Turkey for 22 years.
The jailing caps a months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures and the removal of other elected officials from office, in what critics called a government attempt to hurt their election prospects.
(Production: Ayhan Uyanik, Amy Pollock) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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