Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed opposition political parties for provoking a “movement of violence”, as protests in the country continue for a sixth night.
Unrest began in Istanbul last Wednesday when the city’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main presidential rival, was detained on corruption charges.
Thousands of people gathered once again on Monday. Unrest had escalated on Sunday night, with protesters fired on with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Imamoglu, also suspended from his post as mayor, said the allegations against him were politically motivated, a claim denied by Erdogan.
Large numbers of riot police accompanied protesters around Istanbul’s city hall on Monday night, as crowds chanted and waved Turkish flags.
Vehicles carrying water guns were also seen close by, though protests appeared to be largely peaceful with no repeat of the fierce clashes seen on Sunday.
In figures released before Monday evening’s gatherings, the Turkish government said 1,133 people had been arrested since the protests started.
In an earlier televised statement, Erdogan labelled the demonstrations “evil” and blamed opposition political parties for “disturbing the peace of our citizens with provocations”.
Speaking from Ankara, Turkey’s capital, he called for the protests to end and said that “instead of responding to allegations”, opposition parties had “made the most vile and unlawful statements in our political history for [the last] five days”.
CHP leader Özgür Özel spoke to the thousands gathered on Monday night He told the crowd that the demonstration was “an act of defiance against fascism”.
Özel said he would visit Imamoglu in jail in Silivri on Tuesday. He said the CHP would appeal for the politician to be released pending trial, and for his trial to be shown live on state broadcaster TRT.
