Police in Ankara detained at least 30 people on Friday, including students, a journalist and a lawyer, during a protest over the arrest of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, drawing accusations of excessive force and mistreatment from witnesses and rights groups, Turkish Minute reported.
The protest, organized by students from Bilkent, Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ), Ankara University, Gazi University, TED University and Hacettepe University, aimed to march from Konur Street to the Justice Ministry under the slogan “Youth is standing up for its future.”
Police declared the march unlawful and blocked the demonstrators, later using force to break up the gathering.
Video shared online showed police violently restraining protesters and using disproportionate force, sparking widespread outrage and condemnation.
Among those detained were lawyer Ekin Öztürk Yılmaz, a member of the Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD), and Havva Gümüşkaya, a reporter for the left-wing BirGün newspaper.
One detainee, who said he was 16 and identified himself on social media as Furkan, described being beaten, insulted and subjected to humiliating treatment while held in the trunk of a police vehicle, including death threats and sexual harassment during body searches.
The Ankara Governor’s Office defended the police response in a statement on X, but the post drew further backlash, with rights groups accusing the local government of making a transphobic comment about some of those detained.
Protesters chanted “Where were the police while women were dying?” and “The dignity of humanity will defeat torture” while being taken into custody.
According to the ÇHD, several detainees were denied access to legal counsel for hours, and many reported injuries sustained during their detention.
The crackdown in Ankara comes amid a broader wave of unrest and heavy-handed policing in Turkey following the detention of the İstanbul mayor.
Rights organizations have repeatedly warned that Turkey’s shrinking space for dissent is accelerating as authorities deploy increasingly aggressive tactics against peaceful demonstrators.
