Dozens of protesters marking the 12th anniversary of the Gezi events, a massive anti-government uprising in 2013, were arrested on Saturday evening in Istanbul, according to lawyers.
The Progressive Lawyers Association (CHD) reported on social media platform X that “at least 87 people have been arrested” and noted that “barriers have been erected to prevent lawyers from accessing” the police headquarters.
No official figures have been released by either the authorities or the state-run news agency Anadolu.
Several young individuals posted on X, stating, “We are being arrested.”
Once again, the crowd was blocked on Saturday night from reaching Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square, adjacent to Gezi Park and the focal point of the protests, which has been sealed off with barriers since the morning.
The AFP observed that the metro station near the square was also closed.
Protesters gathered in the early evening on a nearby street in Beyoglu district, standing under banners declaring, “The darkness goes, Gezi remains,” and “Taksim everywhere, Resistance everywhere,” echoing slogans from the Gezi movement that challenged then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government for three weeks.
This gathering, called for in the early evening, occurred more than two months after a wave of protests erupted following the arrest of Istanbul’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, on 19 March, accused of “corruption.”
Imamoglu, the main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, denies the charges. He has been held since 25 March in Silivri, a large prison west of Istanbul, along with dozens of his associates.
Nearly 50 more arrest warrants were issued on Saturday against members of the municipality, with 28 being detained on Saturday morning.
