Saturday began with relative calm under a spring sun but ended in complete confusion and utter darkness. It was not until the early hours of Sunday, March 23, that it was revealed Istanbul's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main rival, had finished giving his testimony after more than eight hours of questioning. The president's nemesis, who was arrested on charges of "corruption," "embezzlement" and "terrorism" on Wednesday, was immediately ordered to be incarcerated, plunging the country further into shock. On X, Imamoglu denounced the "illegal" and "baseless" charges and said, "I stand tall, and will keep my head high," adding, "Together, we will erase this blow to our democracy, this dark stain, once and for all." "The ongoing judicial process is far from being fair – it is an execution without trial," he later added.

Four days and four nights of unprecedented protests – the largest since the Gezi uprising in 2013 – were not enough to halt the relentless judicial crackdown on the opposition and its main party, the Republican People's Party (CHP). Imamoglu, the mayor of the Bosphorus megacity under the Kemalist banner since 2019 and comfortably elected twice – and widely regarded as one of Turkey's most popular politicians – now faces several years in prison and disqualification from holding office.

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