Hundreds of people protested outside an Istanbul courthouse Saturday, calling for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to resign, as Turkey entered its fourth day of civil unrest.

Violent clashes between demonstrators and police were sparked by Wednesday’s arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu – a top political rival of Erdogan.

Imamoglu was arrested on alleged financial crimes and links to insurgent Kurdish militants, as part of an escalating government crackdown on opposition leaders. As many as 100 others were also detained.

Prosecutors questioned Imamoglu in court Saturday for the first time, along with the dozens others who were arrested alongside him.

Supporters slammed the charges as politically motivated. 

The arrest came mere hours before Imamoglu was nominated as a presidential candidate for the country’s main opposition party to Erdogan, in an election currently scheduled for 2028.

Tens of thousands of Turks have taken to the streets calling for Erdogan’s resignation, in more than a dozen cities across the country. The protests have spread even as the government banned public gatherings on Wednesday, Politico reported.

The Istanbul governor’s office said Saturday it was extending the ban four additional days and that vehicles suspected of transporting people “likely to participate in unlawful activities” would not be allowed to enter or exit the city.

At least 340 protestors were arrested overnight Friday.

Turkey’s interior ministry warned that authorities would not tolerate “chaos and provocation.”

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported that Turkish police have also detained 56 people for social media posts that allegedly incited unrest.

Meanwhile, X has suspended accounts of Turkish opposition figures, according to Politico.

Erdogan has been at Turkey’s helm for more than two decades.

With Post wires