Turkey Protests 2025: UK Observers Watch Closely as Police Crack Down on Demonstrators
From the Foreign Office to London’s Turkish diaspora, eyes are now firmly on the growing unrest in Turkey, where police have used water cannon, pepper spray, and plastic pellets against demonstrators in Ankara. The Turkey protests 2025 have gathered momentum in recent days following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a prominent opposition figure long viewed as a serious political rival to President Erdogan.
What began as a protest against Imamoglu’s detention, on charges of corruption and alleged links to terrorism, has quickly escalated into some of the largest anti-government demonstrations in Turkey for over a decade. Critics, including legal groups and opposition parties, argue that the charges are politically motivated, citing the use of secret witnesses and what they describe as unreliable evidence.
The UK has not issued a formal government response at the time of writing, but there is growing concern among MPs and NGOs. Many in Britain will remember Imamoglu’s 2019 mayoral victory in Istanbul as a pivotal moment for Turkish democracy. His arrest has therefore struck a nerve far beyond Turkish borders, particularly among British Turks and human rights observers.
The most recent incident occurred early on 28th March, when student protesters tried to make a peaceful statement outside Middle East Technical University in Ankara. According to Turkish broadcaster Halk TV, police responded with force. The scene quickly turned chaotic as students used metal dumpsters as barricades and were met with water cannon and baton charges. Several were detained. Melih Meric, a CHP parliamentarian, was among those caught in the clash and was later seen on social media visibly affected by pepper spray, claiming the protest had been peaceful until police intervened.
The Turkey protests 2025 have also raised questions around media freedom. Eight journalists, who had been detained for covering earlier protests, were released on Thursday following legal appeals, according to the Media and Law Studies Association. Seven of them had been held in Istanbul, while the eighth was detained in Izmir.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel has warned of an escalation if the government fails to de-escalate tensions. Earlier this week he said he was prepared to rally hundreds of thousands more supporters in Istanbul if police continued to meet peaceful protest with violence. So far, protests have taken place in districts across the city, including Kadikoy and Sisli, with opposition-organised marches drawing huge crowds outside Istanbul’s City Hall.
In a message posted to social media from prison, Imamoglu accused security forces of using excessive violence. “I cannot call them police,” he said, “because my honourable police would not commit this cruelty to the young children of the nation.”
More than 1,400 people have reportedly been detained across the country in the Turkey protests since the protests began, according to Turkey’s interior ministry. The scale of detentions, and the aggressive response, is causing concern among international observers, including legal and human rights groups here in the UK. Amnesty International UK continues to monitor the situation closely.
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