site.btaTens of Thousands Rally in Istanbul under Slogan “The People Defend Their Will”

Turkiye's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) held another large rally on Wednesday night in the Kartal district on the Asian side of Istanbul against the arrests and removal of CHP mayors, led by Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

According to the Birgun newspaper, tens of thousands of citizens participated in the rally, which took place in Kartal's central square under the slogan “The People Defend Their Will”. 

The demonstrators carried banners and posters with slogans such as “Freedom for the Mayors”, “Imamoglu for President” and chanted “Either together or no one” and “Shoulder to shoulder against fascism”.

This was the 37th rally held by the CHP since March 23, 2025 in various neighbourhoods of the metropolis and across the country, according to the Anka news agency.

A message from former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is under arrest in Silivri prison on corruption charges but has not been formally charged despite the passage of four months, was read at the rally.

“The CHP, with its mayors, MPs and institutional structure, is under illegal siege. Because the CHP is the unifying force of those who want democracy and justice. Therefore, what they really fear is the nation, the will of the people. Together, we will put an end to this unjust system, created for the benefit of a handful of people,” Imamoglu said, quoted by Halk TV.

In his speech at the rally, CHP leader Ozgur Ozel emphasised that “despite the darkness, despite the arrests and despite the fact that the goal is to intimidate us, to destroy us, we will not back down, we will continue the fight shoulder to shoulder. No one has the right to push the country into the abyss, nor to keep our mayors, led by Ekrem Imamoglu, who is the presidential candidate of 20 million people, in prison without trial or sentence,” Ozel said.

The opposition leader called on the government to give workers a pay rise to keep up with inflation. He also called for the Minister of Education, Yusuf Tekin, to be held criminally responsible for allegations of fraud in the high school entrance exams held on June 15, 2025.

According to Turkish media reports, a total of 963,142 students took the exams. 719 students received excellent grades - twice as many as last year, when the number was 352. The allegations are that the answers were sent via the WhatsApp mobile app to parents close to the authorities.

The rally lasted nearly two hours amid heightened security measures by the police, including the deployment of armoured TOMA vehicles.

The rally in Kartal is the first that the opposition CHP has held on the Asian side of Istanbul in a series of rallies that began in March with demands for the release of Imaloglu and all those unjustly detained, as well as the scheduling of early elections.

Kartal Mayor Gokhan Yuksel, who was elected to a second term in office by the CHP last year, also participated in Wednesday’s rally.

Kartal is a district located on the coast of the Sea of Marmara, with a population of about half a million. Some of the residents are Turks who migrated from Bulgaria in the recent and distant past. Kartal is home to the largest immigrant community on the Asian side of the metropolis.

Over 150 people have been arrested, including mayors from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and its members. The wave of arrests began in March with the detention and removal from office of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a popular politician and main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Nevertheless, the Republican People's Party nominated him as its presidential candidate. The next regular presidential elections are scheduled to take place in 2028.