Turkey jails journalists, as protesters defy crackdown

ISTANBUL, Turkey

Turkish protesters took to the streets for a sixth straight day on Tuesday, as seven journalists were detained, swept up in a large crackdown against dissent.

The civil unrest in Turkey erupted after Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested on corruption charges last week.

Imamoglu's detention sparked protests, which were followed by a crackdown that has seen more than 1,400 people arrested.

Among the journalists taken into custody was AFP photographer Yasin Akgul. The journalists were charged with "taking part in illegal rallies and marches," though AFP said Akgul was "not part of the protest" but only covering it as a journalist.

"His imprisonment is unacceptable. This is why I am asking you to intervene as quickly as possible to obtain the rapid release of our journalist," AFP's CEO and chairman Fabrice Fries said in a letter to the Turkish presidency, in a sharp rebuke from the Paris-based news agency.

Thousands marched through the Sisli district of Istanbul on Tuesday, heading for the district's municipal headquarters, demanding that the government resign.

Protesters waved flags and banners with slogans reading "Tayyip resign!" while people in apartments above banged on pots and pans in support.

In regards to Imamoglu's arrest, the Turkish government has rejected claims of political influence and maintains that the country's judiciary is independent.

Erdogan has accused the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) of provoking citizens, vowing that they will feel ashamed for the "evil" done to the country once their "show" fades away.

Speaking to a group of young people in a Ramadan fast-breaking meal on Tuesday, the Turkish president urged patience and common sense amid what he described as "very sensitive days".

"Those who terrorize our streets and want to turn this country into a place of chaos have nowhere to go. The path they have taken is a dead end," Erdogan said.

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel visited Imamoglu at Silivri prison, west of Istanbul. Ozel told reporters that he was "ashamed on behalf of those who govern Turkey of the atmosphere I am in and the situation that Turkey is being put through."

Ozel said Imamoglu and two other jailed CHP district mayors were "three lions inside, standing tall, with their heads held high, proud of themselves, their families, their colleagues, not afraid."

He said the CHP would appoint an acting mayor in Imamoglu's place to avoid a state-appointed replacement.

Ozel called on all Turkish people to join him at a mass rally for Saturday in Istanbul.

"Are you ready for a big rally in a large square in Istanbul on Saturday to support Imamoglu, to object to his arrest, to demand transparent, open trials, to say we have had enough and we want early elections?" Ozel asked protesters at a rally on Tuesday.

The Saturday demonstration is expected to be held in the vast Maltepe grounds on the Asian side of Istanbul.