More than 10,000 join opposition rally in Istanbul

At least 10,000 people join an opposition rally at Istanbul City Hall on the 100th day since the city’s popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, was jailed in what critics say was a politically-motivated graft probe.

The rally came hours after police rounded up more than 120 people linked to City Hall in Izmir, an opposition stronghold and Turkey’s third city, in the latest move targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents.

The early-morning arrests were part of a probe into alleged graft, and followed similar lines to the March 19 operation in opposition-run Istanbul when hundreds were arrested, including Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival.

Imamoglu’s removal sparked a wave of mass protests with hundreds of thousands rallying outside City Hall, also known as Sarachane, at the urging of the main opposition CHP, which also called Tuesday’s protest.

“Today, we are all together at the very place where everything began… this struggle is against fascism, this is the fight for freedom,” CHP leader Ozgur Ozel shouts, addressing the crowd in his trademark husky voice. “On March 19, you stood shoulder to shoulder in Sarachane. You shouted for justice. You stood for your will. You stood behind the one you elected… I am proud of every one of you.”