Turkey opposition presses protests as Swedish reporter jailed

ISTANBUL:

Turkey's opposition on Sunday worked to keep up the momentum of the protest movement triggered by the arrest of Istanbul's mayor after a giant weekend rally, with a Swedish reporter the latest detained in a government crackdown.

The arrest on March 19 of Istanbul's opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, on corruption charges his supporters say are false, sparked the most significant anti-government protests in Turkey in over a decade in a major test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

After over a week of nighttime street protests, Imamoglu's Republican People's Party (CHP) mobilised hundreds of thousands of people for a giant rally in Istanbul calling for the release of Imamoglu, seen as the candidate with the best chance of defeating Erdogan at the ballot box after almost a quarter of a century in power.

CHP party leader Ozgur Ozel launched a campaign to gather signatures for a petition calling for Imamoglu's release and early elections, beginning the drive in the now suspended mayor's home Black Sea region in eastern Turkey.

"God is my witness that Ekrem Imamoglu's crime is to be Tayyip Erdogan's rival," Ozel said.

"The reason Imamoglu was thrown into jail is that he defeated Mr Tayyip in the past," he said, referring to how Imamoglu thrashed ruling party candidates in 2019 and 2024 elections for the mayor of Istanbul, a post Erdogan himself once held.

"And he (Imamoglu) has the strength and wisdom to defeat him (Erdogan) in the future," Ozel added.

The government has responded to the protests with a crackdown that has troubled the NATO member's allies and rights groups, with dozens of young people spending the holiday behind bars, journalists detained and foreign reporters held or deported.

Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who works for the Dagens ETC newspaper, was arrested on his arrival in Turkey to cover the protests Thursday. He is being held on terror-related charges and for "insulting the president", the Turkish presidency said