Turkey’s president hits out at protesters for ‘sinking the economy’

Turkey’s president has accused the political opposition of “sinking the economy” during the country’s largest protests in more than a decade over the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor, the biggest challenger to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule.

The party of mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has called for a boycott of companies it says support Mr Erdogan’s government.

The president accused the opposition of being “so desperate that they would throw the country and the nation into the fire”.

In his address to politicians with his Justice and Development Party (AKP) Mr Erdogan added on Wednesday that “sabotage targeting the Turkish economy will be held accountable before the courts”.

Mr Imamoglu was arrested a week ago.

He faces charges related to corruption and supporting terrorism in the Istanbul municipality alongside 90 other suspects.

A court ordered him to be imprisoned on Sunday.

A trial date has not been announced.

Many consider the case against him to be politically motivated.

The government says the judiciary is free of political influence.

The evidence against Mr Imamoglu has not been officially disclosed.

Many Turkish media outlets have reported it is largely based on “secret witnesses”.

The use of such evidence has been seen in previous criminal cases against opposition politicians.

The head the opposition Iyi Party, Musavat Dervisoglu, questioned the evidence of corruption in Istanbul municipality.

“Dozens of inspectors have gone, 1,300 inspections have been made, nothing has come out of these inspections,” he told party politicians.

Also on Wednesday, members of Istanbul’s municipality were voting for a proxy mayor to stand in for Mr Imamoglu.

Mr Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) has a majority in the municipal assembly and is likely to select Nuri Aslan, the deputy mayor under Mr Imamoglu.

While the CHP has said it will no longer organise mass rallies at City Hall, students across Turkey have continued protesting.

Demonstrations in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, as well as smaller cities and towns, have been largely peaceful.

Thousands of protesters marched through Istanbul’s Kadikoy district on Wednesday night as residents leaned from windows and balconies, clapping and banging pots and pans in support. The few police in attendance did not intervene, despite a citywide ban on protests.

Protesters demand Mr Imamoglu’s release and an end to democratic backsliding.

In a social media post from prison, he condemned police violence against protesters: “I cannot call them police because my honourable police would not commit this cruelty to the young children of the nation.”

Interior minister Ali Yerlikaya has said 1,418 people have been detained in the past week over the protests.

Egitim-Sen, a trade union representing teachers and university lecturers, said its Istanbul University representative had been detained.

Left-wing student groups said some of their members had also been detained at their homes.

Turkey is not due for another election until 2028, but it is possible that Mr Erdogan will call for an early vote to seek another term.

Mr Imamoglu has been confirmed as the candidate for the CHP and has performed well in recent polls against Mr Erdogan.

His election as mayor of Turkey’s largest city in 2019 was a major blow to Mr Erdogan and his party.