Tens of thousands of people gathered in Istanbul on Saturday to protest against the jailing of Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival, sustaining the largest demonstrations Turkiye has seen in more than a decade.

Hundreds of thousands have heeded opposition calls and taken to the streets nationwide since Imamoglu was detained last week and then jailed pending trial on graft charges. Protests have been mostly peaceful, but nearly 2,000 people have been detained.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), other opposition parties, rights groups and Western powers have all said the case against Imamoglu is a politicised effort to eliminate a potential electoral threat to Erdogan.

The government denies any influence over the judiciary and says the courts are independent.

Tens of thousands of people waving Turkish flags and banners poured into the sea-front rally grounds at Maltepe on the Asian side of Istanbul for Saturday’s “Freedom for Imamoglu” rally, organised by the CHP.

“If justice is silent, the people will speak,” read one banner held aloft in the crowd.

“The trend of the economy, the trend of justice, law – everything is getting worse. That is why we are here. We say ‘rights, law and justice’ and we are seeking our rights,” said one CHP supporter, who declined to give their name.

Last Sunday, the CHP held a primary election to endorse Imamoglu as candidate for the next presidential election. That is scheduled to be held in 2028, but the CHP is calling for an early election, arguing that the government has lost legitimacy.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said this week that nearly 1,900 people had been detained since the protests began, adding that courts jailed 260 of them pending trial as of Thursday.

Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for over two decades, has dismissed the nationwide protests as a “show”, warned of legal consequences, and called on the CHP to stop “provoking” Turks.

Since Imamoglu’s detention, Turkish financial assets have plunged, prompting the central bank to use reserves to support the lira. The turmoil has sent shockwaves through the private sector.

The government has said the impact would be limited and temporary. The bank said the economy’s core dynamics were unharmed but it would take further measures if needed.

Nepal’s government is investigating deadly violence that occurred during a rally by the supporters of the former king seeking the restoration of constitutional monarchy, a minister said on Saturday.

Two people were killed on Friday and at least 112 injured, including 77 security officials, authorities said, after police used force to stop the stone-throwing crowd from marching towards the parliament building in the capital Kathmandu.

Protesters vandalised homes, shops, a hospital, a political party office, vehicles and a shopping mall and snatched a weapon from the police, the authorities in the Himalayan nation said.

“This is sheer vandalism, arson, looting and anarchy. It cannot be a protest,” cabinet spokesman Prithvi Subba Gurung, the minister of communication and information technology, told Reuters.

Rishiram Tiwari, Kathmandu’s chief district officer, said 105 protesters including some pro-monarchy leaders were taken into custody.

Nepal’s 239-year-old monarchy was abolished in 2008 by a specially elected assembly as part of a deal with Maoist former rebels, ending an insurgency that killed 17,000 people between 1996 and 2006.

The last king, 77-year-old Gyanendra, lives as a commoner with his family in a private house in Kathmandu.

Political instability has rocked Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries, with 14 governments since the abolition of the monarchy, hampering economic growth and discouraging investment.

Public frustration has risen over the failure of successive governments to deliver on commitments to develop the economy of the country, a natural buffer between Asian giants China and India.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened Friday to annex parts of the Gaza Strip unless Hamas militants release the remaining Israeli hostages held in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

The warning came as Israel stepped up the renewed assault it launched on Tuesday, shattering the relative calm that had reigned in the war-battered territory since a January 19 ceasefire.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 11 people on Friday — three in pre-dawn strikes and eight more during the daytime.

On Thursday, it had reported a death toll of 504 since the bombardment resumed, one of the highest since the war began more than 17 months ago with Hamas’s attack on Israel.

“I ordered (the army) to seize more territory in Gaza… The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel,” Katz said in a statement.

Should Hamas not comply, Katz also threatened “to expand buffer zones around Gaza to protect Israeli civilian population areas and soldiers by implementing a permanent Israeli occupation of the area”.

The military urged residents of the Al-Salatin, Al-Karama and Al-Awda areas of southern Gaza to evacuate their homes on Friday ahead of a threatened strike.

“For your safety, head south toward the known shelters immediately,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.

AFP images from northern Gaza showed donkey carts piled high with belongings as residents fled their homes along rubble-strewn roads.

‘PRESSURE POINTS’

Israel resumed intensive bombing of Gaza on Tuesday, citing deadlock in indirect negotiations on next steps in the truce after its first stage expired early this month.

Its resumption of large-scale military operations was coordinated with US President Donald Trump’s administration but drew widespread condemnation.

Turkey condemned what it said was a “deliberate” attack by Israel on a Turkish-built hospital in Gaza. “We strongly condemn the destruction by Israel of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital,” its foreign ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed “concern” over the fresh Israeli assault in a telephone call Friday with the ruler of Qatar, one of the mediators of the January ceasefire.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog expressed concern about the government’s actions in a video statement on Thursday, saying it was “unthinkable to resume fighting while still pursuing the sacred mission of bringing our hostages home”.

Thousands of protesters have rallied in Jerusalem in recent days, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of resuming military operations without regard for the safety of the hostages.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, 58 are still held by Gaza militants, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had closed off the territory’s main north-south route as it expanded the ground operations which resumed on Wednesday.

PROJECTILES FROM GAZA

Israel’s military said it intercepted two projectiles fired from northern Gaza on Friday, after air raid sirens sounded in the southern city of Ashkelon.

On Thursday, sirens went off in central Israel as Hamas said it fired rockets at Tel Aviv in its first military reponse to Israel’s resumed offensive. The military said it intercepted one rocket, while two hit an uninhabited area.

“We will intensify the fight with aerial, naval and ground shelling as well as by expanding the ground operation until hostages are freed and Hamas is defeated, using all military and civilian pressure points,” Katz said.

He said these included implementing Trump’s proposal for the United States to redevelop Gaza as a Mediterranean resort after the relocation of its Palestinian inhabitants to other Arab countries.

When asked if Trump was trying to get a Gaza ceasefire back on track Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the president “fully supports” Israel’s renewed Gaza operations.

Israel rejected negotiations for a promised second stage of the truce, calling instead for the return of all of its remaining hostages under an extended first stage.

That would have meant delaying talks on a lasting ceasefire, and was rejected by Hamas as an attempt to renegotiate the original deal.