Turkiye opposition pushes for early polls as Swedish reporter jailed

Turkish opposition pushes for early elections and mayor's release amid anti-government protests, with crackdown on journalists drawing international concern.

The Turkish opposition on Sunday (March 30, 2025) worked to keep up the momentum of the protest movement triggered by the Istanbul mayor’s arrest by pushing for early elections as well as his release, with a Swedish reporter the latest detained in a government crackdown.

The arrest on March 19 of Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, on corruption charges his supporters say are false, sparked the most significant anti-government protests in Turkiye in over a decade in a major test for President Recep Tayyip Mr. Erdogan.

After over a week of nighttime street protests, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Saturday (March 29, 2025) mobilised hundreds of thousands of people for a giant rally in Istanbul calling for the release of Imamoglu.

He was seen as the candidate with the best chance of defeating Mr. Erdogan at the ballot box after almost a quarter of a century in power with the president showing no sign of wishing to step aside ahead of elections due by 2028.

With Turkiye entering several days of public holiday marking the end of the Ramadan Muslim fasting month, the opposition has vowed to keep up the protest movement while switching tactics to more focused events.

CHP party leader Ozgur Ozel, a former pharmacist who has stepped in as the party’s main public flagbearer as Mr. Imamoglu languishes in Silivri prison in Istanbul, launched a campaign to gather signatures for a petition calling for Imamoglu’s release and early elections.

“God is my witness that Ekrem Imamoglu’s crime is to be Tayyip Erdogan’s rival,” Ozel said as he began the drive in the now suspended mayor’s home Black Sea region in eastern Turkiye.