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Enough to rattle Erdogan? Jailing of popular challenger sparks Turkey’s biggest protests
by François Picard / Photo credits: France24
Despite bans, beatings and even the use of facial recognition technology to pursue protesters, Turkey's opposition is out in the streets in its greatest numbers in more than a decade. This comes after the jailing of centre-left opposition leader Ekrem Imamoglu, the popular mayor of Istanbul who's been charged with corruption and abetting terrorism just as he's been plebiscited by the CHP to carry the party's colours in the 2028 presidential election. Will the protesters prevail?
Turkey has seen many a rule-of-law showdown over the years. One-time Istanbul mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan was himself jailed in 1999, essentially for being popular. He's since enjoyed 22 years of uninterrupted power, which a potential constitutional reform would extend. What to make of this crackdown and its pushback?
Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Ilayda Habib and Aurore Laborie.
The original interview is available here: https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-debate/20250324-jailing-of-popular-challenger-spark-turkey-s-biggest-protest-enough-to-rattle-erdogan
