Protests in Türkiye a month after Istanbul mayor’s arrest.
According to Al-Mayadeen, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s dismissal on March 19 led to the resignation of the most vocal opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but after a month, youth protests continued.
The mass demonstrations in Istanbul ended in the first week. At that time, tens of thousands of people were gathering at the Istanbul mayor’s office every night.
The protests, unprecedented since the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul’s Taksim Square in 2013, have resumed in universities in Istanbul and Ankara for the past 10 days.
In recent days, angry protests have spread to dozens of high schools across the country, where people are angry about the government’s decision to replace some teachers, which they interpret as an attempt by the government to control these educational institutions.
Dimit Lokoslu, a professor of sociology at Istanbul’s Yeditepe University, told AFP that the discontent among young people was hidden, but their opposition to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) (Erdogan’s party) has been evident since the middle of last month.
He added that some young people are opposed to the trend of conservatism and are demanding rights and freedoms.
It is worth noting that Imamoglu, Erdogan’s rival, was arrested at his home on suspicion of involvement in “corruption” and “terrorism”.
On March 23, a judge in Turkey sentenced Ekrem Imamoglu to prison on corruption charges, following which widespread protests took place in Turkey against his arrest.