The lawyer of Istanbul's jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has now been arrested, alongside several more journalists, following the country's biggest demonstrations against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since 2013.
Ten days after the arrest and subsequent jailing of Istanbul's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, thousands of demonstrators have continued to protest on the streets of Istanbul, despite a ban.
A popular opposition politician, Imamoglu is seen as the only person capable of defeating Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the polls in 2028.
Imamoglu was arrested last Wednesday on corruption and terror charges and remains in jail.
Turkey braces for more protests over Istanbul mayor's arrest
Despite this, his party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), declared him its presidential candidate in absentia, after holding a symbolic nationwide vote last weekend that saw almost 15 million people cast a ballot.
On Thursday night, police raided more homes, with Imamoglu saying his lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan had been "detained on fictitious grounds," in a post published via the mayor's legal team on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
It was not immediately clear why Pehlivan had been detained, but opposition broadcaster Halk TV said his arrest was linked to allegations of "laundering assets originating from a crime".
Young protesters
The Istanbul Bar Association meanwhile said 20 minors had been arrested between 22 and 25 March on charges of violating a ban on protests.
Of these 20, 13 had been released but seven were still in custody, it said in a statement posted on X, adding that it was "closely following" the matter.
Many of those demonstrating have only ever known Erdogan as Turkey's leader.
"We have the right to vote, we have the right to choose whoever we want to rule us. But he [Erdogan] is taking that right from us," one protestor, who wished to remain anonymous, told RFI.
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Another demonstrator who also did not want to give his name added: "We want democracy, we want the people to choose who is elected. We want the free will to choose who we want without them being imprisoned."
The unrest is at a level unseen since the Gezi protests of 2013, which almost saw Erdogan ousted. Demonstrations have spread across the country since last week, even reaching the president's traditional strongholds.
Students have launched a nationwide boycott of universities, and opposition leaders are warning of a new escalation in their protests.
Strategy could backfire
Turkey expert Gonul Tol of the Washington-based Middle East Institute think tank told RFI that Erdogan's strategy may backfire this time.
"In 2019, when Ekrem Imamoglu won the municipal elections in Istanbul, Erdogan didn't accept the result and called for a rerun," she explained.
"While in the first round, Imamoglu won by a razor-thin majority, in the second round people got so angry and frustrated that they handed Imamoglu a bigger win. So this could easily backfire, and now that there are hundreds of thousands of people on the streets, this could turn into something much bigger than Erdogan had expected."
However, Erdogan has doubled down, warning that protestors will pay a heavy price.
"Those who are involved in treason and who set up an ambush for the brotherhood of the nation will sooner or later be held accountable to justice," he told his AK Party parliamentary deputies on Wednesday.
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The president has also taken aim at the media. Turkish authorities on Wednesday detained BBC journalist Mark Lowen, then deported him on the grounds he posed "a threat to public order," the UK broadcaster said.
Also on Thursday, Turkey's government-controlled regulatory authority slapped the independent Sozcu TV station with a 10-day broadcast ban and a fine, pointing to alleged violations linked to incitement to "hatred and hostility".
Police also detained two Turkish journalists in dawn raids on their homes, the Turkish Journalists' Union (TGS) said on X.
Deputy chairman of the CHP party Ilhan Uzgel says early elections are the only way to put an end to the crisis.
He warned: "It's damaging the image of the country, it's damaging the economy, it's damaging the social structure of the society in Turkey. The judiciary is the least trusted institution in Turkey; it can't continue like this."
