“We’re tired” of the turmoil in Turkey, woman says after arrest of Istanbul mayor

Record ID: 1986809

  • Title: “We’re tired” of the turmoil in Turkey, woman says after arrest of Istanbul mayor
  • Date: 30th March 2025
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MARCH 30, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF MOSQUE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING OUTSIDE MOSQUE (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH CITIZEN, DICLE (LAST NAME NOT GIVEN) SAYING: "I mean, let these events not happen. I want good politics, a good country, brotherly, comfortable, that's what I mean. I want a country like that. I don't want such uneasiness. Frankly
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Ekrem Imamoglu Istanbul Turkey mayor morning
  • Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Europe,Middle East,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001278030032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:People gathered outside the Mosque after the Eid prayers in the early morning of Sunday (March 30) and the day after the rally in Istanbul where hundreds of thousands of Turks protested against the jailing of Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main rival, sustaining the largest demonstrations Turkey has seen in more than a decade.
    "We’re tired” said Dicle , a Turkish elderly woman, "I mean they have exhausted us, I can tell you that they have made us fed up with this situation. You know, Türkiye's politics is going to a very funny place now. It has become funny", she added.
    Hundreds of thousands of Turks nationwide have heeded opposition calls to protest since Imamoglu was detained last week and then jailed pending trial on graft charges.
    Protests have been mostly peaceful but nearly 2,000 people have been detained.
    "They are justified demonstrations. We have always supported ones (protests) that are done without going to any extremes," said Turkish citizen, Ekrem Dogan.
    The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), other opposition parties, rights groups and some Western powers have all said the case against Imamoglu is a politicized effort to eliminate a potential electoral threat to Erdogan.
    The government denies any influence over the judiciary and says the courts are independent.
    Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said this week that nearly 1,900 people had been detained since the protests began, adding that courts had jailed 260 of them pending trial as of Thursday.
    (Production: Emilie Madi, Ben Makori, Ayhan Uyanik)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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