Dozens of tractors blocked roads in central Turkey on Saturday, as part of a new wave of anti-government protests organized by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
The protest in Yozgat, a traditionally conservative agricultural region, took place one month after the arrest of Istanbul’s popular opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, seen as the biggest political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
İmamoğlu’s arrest sparked the largest demonstrations in Turkey in a decade, prompting a harsh crackdown by authorities that has resulted in nearly 2,000 arrests.
While large-scale protests have somewhat calmed, student and youth-led demonstrations continue across the country. CHP leader Özgür Özel has called for weekly national protests.
Özel Leads Tractor Convoy in Defiant Show of Resistance
On Saturday, Özel personally drove a tractor into Yozgat, leading a convoy of protesters. Thousands waved flags and chanted slogans like “Government – Resign!”, according to opposition media.
“We will not allow this government to crush the hardworking farmers of Yozgat like ants,” said Özel in a fiery speech to the crowd.
Public Voices Call for Change
Dilek İmamoğlu, wife of the jailed mayor, supported the protests, writing on social platform X:
“Workers, farmers, students, women and men building our future have said ‘enough is enough’ today in Yozgat. Millions want a united country where justice and the rule of law prevail.”
Earlier in March, several local farmers were fined for organizing tractor protests following İmamoğlu’s arrest.
At today’s gathering, organizers read a letter from İmamoğlu in which he called for snap elections.
