ANKARA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities have detained 37 people for allegedly posting "provocative" content on social media following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Thursday.
Officials identified 261 social media accounts, including 62 operated from abroad, that allegedly shared posts inciting crime and hatred in response to Imamoglu's detention, Yerlikaya said on the platform X. Efforts to track down the remaining suspects are ongoing, he added.
Imamoglu and dozens of senior municipal officials were detained on Wednesday as part of an investigation for wide-ranging charges initiated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
Following the detention, the Istanbul Governor's Office imposed a four-day ban on all types of meetings, demonstrations, and press statements, and closed several roads across Istanbul.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets and university campuses in Istanbul, Ankara, and other cities on Wednesday, defying the ban.
Imamoglu was re-elected as Istanbul's mayor in the March 2024 local elections. In February, he formally applied to run as the presidential candidate for the opposition Republican People's Party. ■
