On Sunday evening, September 7, in Istanbul, police surrounded the office of the local branch of the opposition Republican People’s Party (RHP), blocking the entrance and exit and blocking the roads nearby. Clashes broke out between law enforcement officers and party supporters near the building.
This was reported by Haberler.
“Late yesterday evening, the Youth Wing of the Istanbul branch of the RHP called on citizens to gather near the branch office. After that, a large number of special forces were deployed there. The roads to the building were blocked, and the entrance and exit were blocked by police. Clashes broke out between law enforcement officers and party members. Citizens expressed their indignation at the blockade,” the report says.
In Istanbul, people expressed their support for the RNP en masse: protesters took to the streets, turned on sirens and banged pots and pans from windows.
The head of the supervisory board, appointed by the court to replace the former party leadership, was supposed to arrive at the office today, but the RNP leadership planned to create a “human chain” to prevent him from entering the premises.
“Ignoring court orders and attempts to take people out on the streets is a clear violation of the law. No one is above the law. The state will resolutely take necessary measures against any illegal attempts,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on the social network X.
The day before, a three-day ban on demonstrations, rallies, and protests was imposed in six districts of the city in Istanbul.
Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, X, TikTok, Facebook, and Telegram are being disrupted across Turkey.
According to Türkiye Today, the restrictions on social media were imposed after a court ruling removed the leadership of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Istanbul and replaced them with proxies. The CHP called for rallies in response to the ruling.
“According to monitoring data, access to online platforms such as X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp has been restricted on many networks in Turkey. This comes amid calls by the main opposition CHP party for rallies after the police blocked its headquarters in Istanbul,” said Netblocks, an organization that monitors the state of the world wide web worldwide.
