ISTANBUL: After six nights of action and sporadic clashes with police over the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor, many Turkish anti-government demonstrators indicated they were preparing for a protracted standoff, denying President Tayyip Erdogan’s assertion that their “show” would end.
The detention of Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan’s principal opponent, last week sparked the biggest rallies in a decade. Protesters, opposition parties, European politicians, and human rights organizations criticized the decision as politicized and anti-democratic.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in squares, streets, and college campuses around the country every evening to chant anti-Erdogan chants and demand justice and rights in addition to Imamoglu’s release.
