Istanbul: Turkish police detained 11 people on Thursday for supporting a shopping boycott as part of protests against the imprisonment of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival, state-run media reported.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 16 suspects in an investigation into “hatred and discrimination” and “inciting hatred and hostility” among the public, the Anadolu news agency said.
Among those detained was actor Cem Yigit Uzumoglu, who played Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in the Netflix docuseries “Rise of Empires: Ottoman,” the Actors’ Union said.
The suspects were held over social media posts calling on people to not to spend money on Wednesday and for businesses to shut their doors in solidarity during the daylong boycott. Large-scale anti-government protests began last month after the arrest of Istanbul’s opposition Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on alleged corruption charges.