Istanbul (AP) – Demonstrations This exploded through Turkey after the arrest of the mayor of the opposition of Istanbul – the main challenger of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – took a new direction Wednesday with calls for a day boycott shopping.
Student groups behind the call also urged businesses to close on Wednesday.
Large-scale anti-government demonstrations began last month after the imprisonment of Ekrem Imamoglufacing accusations of corruption and terrorism that say that observers are politically motivated. The government insists that the judiciary is independent and exempt from political interference.
The Imamoglu group supported the call to a boycott.
“I invite everyone to join this boycott and use their power from consumption,” said Ozgur Ozel, leader of the Republican Popular Party, or CHP, on social networks.
Ozel had called on people to avoid companies which, according to him, supported the government, in particular media companies that are not disseminated protests This has seen hundreds of thousands of streets flooded to ask for the release of Imamoglu and the end of the democratic decline.
The student boycott call sparked a quick response from the government.
The Minister of the Interior, Ali Yerlikaya, described him as “sabotage” and an “attempted coup against our economy”, while the Minister of Commerce Omer Bolat said that companies undergoing financial loss would be able to file a compensation request against those who call the boycott.
Bolat published images of himself purchases on social networks, alongside comments saying that it was a “day of protection of the national economy”.
The head of the Turkey broadcasting authority has announced a possible action against the news channels that made the boycott public. Last week, the authority issued a 10 -day broadcasting prohibition for an opposition chain, as well as fines and program suspensions to others.
The office of the Chief Prosecutor of Istanbul Tuesday launched a criminal investigation In opposition boycott calls.
Rifat Hisarciklioglu, president of the Union of Chambers and the exchange of raw materials of Turkey, said that it was bad to target companies, which, according to him, should be kept away from political discussions.
Meanwhile, the head of an event company that attracted the anger of the demonstrators by calling them “caterers” announced that he was canceling concerts, including those of British artists Robbie Williams and Muse as well as the Norwegian singer Ane Brun who had been planned for the latest this year.
Imamoglu, in an article on social networks of prison where he has been detained since March 23said European politicians had started to cut ties to Turkey.
The European Commission has canceled its participation in the Diplomacy Forum Antalya, while the European Commissioner to expand Marta Kos said that she had canceled a meeting with Turkish Minister Hakan Fidan
In prison, Imamoglu was confirmed as presidential candidate of the CHP during an election currently scheduled for 2028 but likely to take place earlier.
According to the Anka independent news agency, some 2,000 people have been detained since the arrest of Imamoglu on March 19, with 316 pending lawyers. Most are facing costs related to participation in demonstrations.
Lawyers for imprisoned demonstrators said on Wednesday that their customers had been beaten by the police, deprived of food and water, handcuffed during prolonged periods and refused access to lawyers and families.
The vocal initiative of the lawyer based in Istanbul said that most of the students had undergone bruises while we had “numbness in his arm because of physical violence and that a student had broken coasts”.
The Turkish government has not responded to the statements.
