Protests against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continue in Istanbul, with the participation of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, IPN reports.
Demonstrators flooded Istanbul's streets, heeding the call of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Turkey's main opposition party, after the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested two weeks ago, according to Deutsche Welle.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said there were 2.2 million demonstrators, but the figure has not been officially confirmed. The party called for a boycott of media outlets and shops, accusing them of pro-Erdogan policies.
The demonstrators gathered in the Maltepe district, with flags and placards, demanding the mayor's release. The demonstrations are mostly peaceful, but around 2,000 people were detained.
Imamoglu, meanwhile, addressed the crowd in a read-out letter, calling for unity against his "unlawful" arrest.
"With every move he makes against me, Erdogan shows that he is someone who runs away from elections and is afraid of his opponent," wrote Imamoglu.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for over two decades, dismissed the protests as a "show" and called on the CHP to stop "provoking" Turks.
Authorities have, meanwhile, continued to crack down on media coverage of the protest movement. On Thursday, a Swedish journalist was detained upon arriving at the airport before being formally jailed on Friday. Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said Stockholm was taking Medin's arrest "seriously."
Some 13 Turkish journalists have been arrested in five days. Eleven were freed Thursday, including AFP photographer Yasin Akgul.
Authorities also deported BBC correspondent Mark Lowen on the grounds he posed "a threat to public order," after holding him for 17 hours.
Photo source: Umit Bektas/REUTERS
