Turkey is in the grip of its largest anti-government protests in over a decade, as authorities respond with mass arrests and sweeping censorship measures in a bid to quell the growing dissent.
More than 1,100 people, including journalists, have been detained, while social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has been flooded with government requests to block hundreds of accounts that have been sharing images and news of the demonstrations.
The protests erupted following the dramatic arrest of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, on corruption charges last week, a move widely seen as politically motivated.
The popular opposition figure was taken into custody in a dawn raid, just hours after he was announced as the opposition’s candidate to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the next elections. İmamoğlu has since been transferred to a high-security prison on the outskirts of the city, fuelling public outrage and sending tens of thousands onto the streets in defiance of government restrictions.
Police have responded with force, deploying pepper spray, teargas, and armoured water cannon trucks against protesters in Istanbul and other major cities. The Turkish interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, confirmed that 1,133 people had been arrested over the past five days, with many detained for violating a city-wide protest ban. In an effort to stem the unrest, Istanbul’s governor also restricted entry to the city over the weekend, a move that has only added to tensions.
Yerlikaya defended the crackdown, stating that “some circles have been abusing the right to assembly and demonstration, attempting to disrupt public order, inciting street events and attacking our police. Such actions are aimed at disrupting the peace and security of our people.”
The Turkish government has strongly denied that İmamoğlu’s arrest was politically motivated. However, the crackdown on protests, alongside his sudden imprisonment, has rattled financial markets. Analysts estimate that the Turkish central bank spent as much as $25 billion (£19.3bn) in just three days last week to stabilise the lira amid fears of economic fallout.
Financial analyst Haluk Bürümcekçi warned that while the central bank still has reserves, “these would not be adequate for similar ongoing demand” should the turmoil continue.
Adding to the economic instability, the Turkish capital markets board imposed a one-month ban on short selling at the Istanbul stock exchange, citing “recent developments.” The move signals growing concerns over investor confidence as the government grapples with both political unrest and a long-running economic crisis that has driven inflation and living costs to punishing levels.
Meanwhile, press freedom in Turkey has come under renewed scrutiny, with journalists increasingly targeted by authorities. Nine reporters were detained in dawn raids, while another was arrested while covering protests outside Istanbul city hall. Evin Barış Altıntaş, head of the Media and Law Studies Association, said that many of those arrested were photographers, suggesting a deliberate attempt to limit visual evidence of the protests.
“The main aim is to cut off the number of people taking photos at protests,” Altıntaş said, highlighting concerns over a growing media blackout. Her concerns were further fuelled by threats from Ebubekir Şahin, head of Turkey’s media regulator RTÜK, to revoke the licences of broadcasters airing live footage of the demonstrations. While Şahin later denied making such threats, he ominously added that “the state will do what is necessary.”
Efforts to stifle coverage of the unrest have extended online, with Turkish authorities pressuring social media companies to block accounts critical of the government.
The global government affairs team at X confirmed they had received court orders to shut down over 700 accounts belonging to journalists, political figures, students, and activists. “We believe this decision from the Turkish government is not only unlawful, it hinders millions of Turkish users from news and political discourse in their country,” the company said in a statement, vowing to challenge the orders in court.
However, Altıntaş pointed out that, despite its free-speech rhetoric, X has already complied with Turkish government demands by blocking at least 110 accounts. Among those affected are journalists covering the protests, as well as feminist and student groups.
“There is a clear attempt to censor images and videos of the protests, and this is obviously a part of that,” she said. Despite the crackdown, the protests show no sign of abating, with numbers swelling by the day. The government’s attempts to suppress coverage of the demonstrations may ultimately prove futile, as dissent continues to spread beyond Istanbul and into other cities across the country.
For Erdoğan’s government, the scale of the unrest represents a formidable challenge. If İmamoğlu’s arrest was intended to neutralise a key political opponent, it appears to have backfired spectacularly, galvanising opposition forces and bringing thousands into the streets in defiance of state repression.
As Turkey braces for further turmoil, the question remains: can the government silence the voices of dissent, or has it already lost control of the narrative?
