section_path: Protests/23 March
section_name: 23 March
paragraph_text: 23 March
  
  Large crowds gathered in central areas such as Kadıköy, chanting slogans like “Justice for all” and “This is not about a mayor; it's about democracy.” Protesters described the situation as an attack on electoral legitimacy and democratic governance. Turkish police responded with tear gas and riot control tactics. Several protesters were reportedly injured during the crackdown, and some were detained.
  
  RTÜK 's president Ebubekir Şahin, warned some TV channels on X that there could be penalties applicable up to broadcast suspension and license revocation,if they kept engaging in activities such as broadcasting against the law and calling the people to the streets. This resulted in some channels,such as Sözcü TV and Halk TV cutting their live broadcasts of rallies and protests at the Metropolitan Municipality building. As a result, several millions tuned into livestreams of the protests broadcast from İmamoğlu's social media accounts and the CHP. The broadcast resulted in a record number of simultaneous viewers of the livestream, at 4 million. After calls on social media to boycott brands associated with the AKP, as well as smaller businesses that refused to help protesters or sell to them, Özgür Özel threatened a boycott on media companies if they did not cover the protests.
  
  At 12:20 p.m. İmamoğlu was formally arrested following a court order. The Istanbul Criminal Court mandated his detention pending trial on charges of corruption and alleged connections to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group designated as terrorist by Turkey. The terrorism charges were dropped as the court focused on corruption. Despite misinformation, this move means that a trustee cannot be appointed to Istanbul. İmamoğlu denied the allegations, labeling them as baseless and politically motivated. His legal team announced plans to appeal the court's decision, asserting that the charges are intended to suppress political dissent. At 10:49 p.m. local time, after most of the votes from the primary election were counted, the CHP declared on X that their presidential candidate for the upcoming elections is Ekrem İmamoğlu.
  
  A protest was held in Valletta by Turkish residents in Malta.