More than 340 Protesters Arrested in Turkey

On Saturday night, Turkish police arrested 343 participants of opposition-supporting protests, according to reports from Western media citing data from Turkey's Ministry of Interior.

Demonstrations took place in Istanbul, Ankara, and other cities. Participants expressed their support for the detained Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu.

The protests in Turkey began after İmamoğlu was arrested by police on March 19 as part of an anti-corruption investigation. According to the protesters, this and other investigations into the political figure have political motivations.

The prosecution justified the detention by stating that illegal financing cases related to İmamoğlu and several businessmen have been uncovered.

Ekrem İmamoğlu has served as Istanbul's mayor since 2019 and is considered the main political rival of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.