Türkiye Warns Against Growing Street Protests Over Detained Mayor 

Middle East Technical University (ODTU) students clash with Turkish anti riot police as they use tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters demonstrate against the arrest of Istanbul mayor, in Ankara on March 20, 2025. (AFP)
Middle East Technical University (ODTU) students clash with Turkish anti riot police as they use tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters demonstrate against the arrest of Istanbul mayor, in Ankara on March 20, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Warns Against Growing Street Protests Over Detained Mayor 

Middle East Technical University (ODTU) students clash with Turkish anti riot police as they use tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters demonstrate against the arrest of Istanbul mayor, in Ankara on March 20, 2025. (AFP)
Middle East Technical University (ODTU) students clash with Turkish anti riot police as they use tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters demonstrate against the arrest of Istanbul mayor, in Ankara on March 20, 2025. (AFP)

Türkiye’s government warned on Friday against "illegal" calls from the main opposition for street protests over the detention of Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, after thousands demonstrated across the country in the last two days.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 53 people were detained and 16 police officers were injured in protests that began at university campuses, Istanbul municipal headquarters and elsewhere on Thursday, triggering scattered clashes.

Imamoglu, who is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival and leads him in some polls, was detained on Wednesday facing charges including graft and aiding a terrorist group.

The mayor's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has condemned the move as politically-motivated and urged people to lawfully demonstrate, while European leaders have criticized the detention as democratic backsliding.

Yerlikaya and the justice minister, Yilmaz Tunc, criticized the calls for action from CHP leader Ozgur Ozel as "irresponsible" amid a four-day ban on public gatherings.

"Gathering and marching in protest are fundamental rights. But calling to the streets over an ongoing legal investigation is illegal and unacceptable," Tunc said on X early on Friday.

Tunc said the courtroom was the place to respond to any legal process and called for calm, adding that the "independent and unbiased judiciary" was evaluating the case. He has warned against linking Erdogan to Imamoglu's arrest.

Demonstrations took place Thursday in Ankara, Izmir and Istanbul, as well as other provinces across the country, with police erecting barricades on several main streets.

'THEATRICS'

Erdogan dismissed the opposition's criticism as "theatrics" and "slogans" that distract from its internal mistakes.

Speaking at the main Istanbul rally late Thursday, the CHP's Ozel responded: "Hey Erdogan, you're most scared of the streets. We are now on the streets, in squares. Continue to be afraid."

"While you keep the one we elected in custody, we will not sit at home," he said before thousands of supporters.

"Mr. Tayyip, you are scared and you are asking, 'are you calling people to the streets? Are you calling people to the squares?' Yes. I didn't fill up these squares or these streets, you did."

Since Imamoglu's detention, many supporters had called for more concrete and organized action from the CHP, making Ozel's call a significant escalation of pressure on the government.

The move against Imamoglu, 54, a two-term mayor, comes as the CHP was set to announce him as its presidential candidate on Sunday. It has called for non-party members to vote for him in ballot boxes set up across the country, as a sign of public resistance.

No presidential election is scheduled until 2028 but Erdogan, 71, could call it early to avoid hitting a two-term limit if he decides to run again.

CRACKDOWN

Imamoglu's detention caps a months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures that has been criticized as an attempt to hurt their electoral prospects and silence dissent, charges the government denies.

Ankara has dramatically curbed civil disobedience since the 2013 nationwide Gezi Park protests against Erdogan's government prompted a violent state crackdown.

In an interview Thursday, Ozel told Reuters his party would resist but not disrupt public order.

He vowed to resist any potential attempts by authorities to remove him and CHP officials from the municipality headquarters, where they have been staying since Imamoglu's detention. The party would resist any unjust replacement of Imamoglu, he said.

A government appointee could replace the mayor if he is formally arrested in coming days as part of the probe charging him with aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), deemed a terrorist organization by Türkiye and its Western allies.

His detention came a day after a university annulled his degree, which if upheld would block him from running for president under constitutional rules that require candidates to have a four-year degree.



Iran FM Araghchi Arrives in Oman Ahead of Nuclear Talks with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
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Iran FM Araghchi Arrives in Oman Ahead of Nuclear Talks with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters

Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman on Friday ahead of fresh nuclear talks with the United States, after both sides said progress had been made in previous rounds.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X that "Araghchi and his accompanying delegation arrived in Muscat for the third round of Iran-US talks".

Iran's Mehr news agency released a brief video showing the foreign minister disembarking from an Iranian government plane in Muscat.

Baqaei said Araghchi would be leading the delegation of diplomats and technical experts in the indirect discussions with the US side.

US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will represent the United States in the talks.

The latest round will include expert-level talks on Iran's nuclear program, with Michael Anton, who serves as the State Department's head of policy planning, leading the technical discussions on the US side, the department said.

Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that deputy foreign ministers Kazem Gharibabadi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi will lead the Iranian technical team.

Baqaei wrote on X that Iran's delegation is "resolved to secure our nation's legitimate and lawful right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes while taking reasonable steps to demonstrate that our program is entirely peaceful".

"Termination of unlawful and inhumane sanctions in an objective and speedy manner is a priority that we seek to achieve," he added.

According to Baqaei, the dialogue will again be mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on Saturday morning.

The meeting follows two earlier rounds of Omani-mediated negotiations in Muscat and Rome starting on April 12.

- Calling for 'goodwill' -

Since his return to office in January, Trump has reimposed sweeping sanctions under his policy of "maximum pressure" against Tehran.

In March, he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei calling for talks but warning of possible military action if they failed to produce a deal.

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons -- an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its program is for peaceful civilian purposes.

Baqaei earlier Friday said "progress in the negotiations requires the demonstration of goodwill, seriousness, and realism by the other side".

Iran will treat Saturday's talks seriously, Araghchi said in a recent interview, "and if the other party also enters seriously, there is potential for progress".

In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal signed three years earlier between Tehran and major world powers. The agreement eased sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

After Trump's pullout, Tehran complied with the agreement for a year before scaling back its compliance.

Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit in the 2015 deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.

In an interview published by Time Magazine on Friday, Trump said the United States will "lead the pack" in attacking Iran if nuclear talks do not lead to a new deal.

But he expressed hope that an agreement could be reached and said he would be willing to meet Khamenei.