Türkiye braces for further protests as 7 journalists freed

ISTANBUL: Seven journalists detained for covering the mass protests that have gripped Türkiye were granted conditional release on Tuesday (Mar 25) as the nation braced for another day of unrest over the arrest of a top opposition figure.

Vast crowds have hit the streets daily since the Mar 19 move against Istanbul's popular opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, prompting nightly clashes with riot police that have spread across the country.

Imamoglu, 53, of the opposition CHP party, is widely seen as the only politician capable of defeating Türkiye's longtime leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the ballot box, but has now been stripped of his mayorship and jailed because of a graft and terror probe that his supporters denounce as a "political coup".

By Monday, police had arrested 1,133 people, among them journalists, in connection with the protests, with a further 43 rounded up on Monday night, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

Early on Tuesday, a court ordered the conditional release of seven out of eight journalists who had been arrested in Istanbul before dawn on Monday, among them an AFP photographer.

Three journalists are still being held. All had been detained on suspicion of "violating the law on meetings and demonstrations", said MLSA rights group, which is providing them with legal counsel.

Riot police once again cracked down on protesters who gathered outside Istanbul City Hall for a sixth night Monday, and also roughly dispersed a student sit-in on Galata Bridge spanning the Golden Horn estuary, AFP correspondents and media reports said.

The unrest has continued despite a ban on protests in Türkiye's three biggest cities, with the interdiction in Ankara extended until Apr 1, the governor said Tuesday.

AMNESTY: "POLICE VIOLENCE DEEPLY SHOCKING"

Footage of the police crackdown has drawn a sharp response from rights groups.

Europe's top rights body, the Council of Europe, issued a statement expressing concern about the "disproportionate use of force by the police", also referring to the crackdown on journalists.

London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International also demanded an immediate halt to police violence, saying it had reviewed footage which was "deeply shocking".

"The use of unnecessary and indiscriminate force by police against peaceful protesters in Türkiye must immediately stop," Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnes Callamard said on Monday.

It cited use of pepper spray, tear gas, water cannon and plastic bullets - "sometimes fired at close range at the face and upper body" - calling for a prompt investigation into such "unlawful acts of violence".

Student groups - many of whom have announced a lecture boycott in Türkiye's main cities - announced a new gathering on Tuesday with protesters called to join them at Istanbul's Macka park at 1400 GMT.

A doctors' union also announced a march at 1630 GMT which would head towards City Hall.

At Monday's rally, opposition leader and CHP head Ozgur Ozel announced a boycott of 10 companies and organisations, among them pro-government TV channels that have avoided broadcasting protest images, along with a cafe chain known for being close to the government.

On Sunday, Imamoglu was overwhelmingly chosen as the CHP's candidate for a 2028 presidential run, with observers saying it was the looming primary that triggered the move against him.

His jailing drew sharp condemnation from Berlin, which called it "totally unacceptable", echoing comments from Paris, with concern also expressed by Athens and Brussels.

Imamoglu has denounced the judicial moves against him as a political "execution without trial" but has vowed to fight on in several messages transmitted via his lawyers.