Turkish-Americans in the United States have staged protests in four major cities, marking four months since the controversial imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Demonstrators called for justice for 16 jailed mayors and condemned what they described as “punishment without trial.”
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| Turkish-Americans protest over jailing of mayors |
Rallies were held in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, coordinated by the March 19 Platform, a grassroots group formed after İmamoğlu’s arrest on 19 March. Turkish citizens from 15 U.S. states gathered to voice their opposition to the growing number of political detentions in Turkey.
One of the central figures highlighted at the protests was Murat Çalık, the mayor of Beylikdüzü, a district on the European side of Istanbul. Çalık, who is battling a recurrence of lymphoma, remains in custody despite widespread calls for his release on medical grounds—a situation critics have labelled inhumane and politically motivated.
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| Turkish-Americans protest over jailing of mayors |
Çalık’s mother, Gülümser Çalık, has reportedly waited outside the hospital where her son is receiving treatment under guard, able to see him only through a barred window.
To underscore Çalık’s absence, protesters placed empty chairs in public squares as symbolic tributes. They carried signs reading “Freedom for Murat Çalık” and “No to Punishment Without Trial.” Demonstrators also drew attention to the declining health of other detainees, including Ayşe Barım and Barış Kahraman, and urged their immediate release on humanitarian grounds.
Opposition under pressure
Turkey has seen a wave of arrests targeting opposition politicians, particularly from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the country’s main opposition party. Analysts say the detentions are part of a broader strategy to stifle dissent and undermine locally elected officials not aligned with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
- Istanbul Mayor sentenced to prison time for remarks made towards Chief Prosecutor
- Turkey’s opposition presidential candidate detained
The Turkish Constitution enshrines the principle of presumption of innocence, but rights groups say this standard is increasingly disregarded. Many detainees, including elected officials, have been held without formal indictments, sometimes for extended periods.According to the March 19 Platform, at least 16 mayors and hundreds of municipal administrators are currently behind bars across Turkey, many of them still awaiting trial or even formal charges.
Other “political prisoners” in Turkey
Canan Güllü, president of the Federation of Women’s Associations of Turkey (TKDF), attended the New York rally while in the U.S. for meetings at the United Nations and with officials in Washington, D.C. In her speech, she invoked the historic role of women in the founding of the Turkish Republic:
Medyascope'u destekle. Medyascope'a abone ol.
Medyascope’u senin desteğin ayakta tutuyor. Hiçbir patronun, siyasi çıkarın güdümünde değiliz; hangi haberi yapacağımıza biz karar veriyoruz. Tıklanma uğruna değil, kamu yararına çalışıyoruz. Bağımsız gazeteciliğin sürmesi, sitenin açık kalması ve herkesin doğru bilgiye erişebilmesi senin desteğinle mümkün.
“Women stood on both the frontlines and the home front during the founding of our Republic. We will continue to raise our voices in this struggle for democracy.”
Güllü emphasized that the protest movement extends beyond İmamoğlu’s imprisonment, saying it reflects broader concerns about the erosion of judicial independence and the rule of law in Turkey.
In addition to İmamoğlu and Çalık, protesters called for the release of other high-profile detainees, including:
- Osman Kavala, a philanthropist and civil society leader held since 2017, despite a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights ordering his release;
- Selahattin Demirtaş, former co-leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), imrpisoned since 2016;
- Can Atalay, a lawyer and elected member of parliament, who remains imprisoned despite a ruling from the Turkish Constitutional Court ordering his release.
“This isn’t just about one politician,” said Güllü. “It’s about an entire system of unlawful detention. This is a fight to restore the rule of law in Turkey.”
