LIVE – Updated at 16:11
Tens of thousands gathered in Istanbul with unrest likely to continue over treatment of presidential challenger to Erdoğan.
Closing summary
The Guardian’s live coverage of ongoing events across Europe is coming to an end for today. Protests continue throughout Turkey after Ekrem İmamoğlu – Istanbul’s mayor and top rival to president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – was jailed yesterday. Here’s what else happened today:
-
Turkey’s interior minister said 1,133 people had been detained since protests i turkey began on 19 March. There have been large-scale demonstrations in cities across Turkey since last Wednesday.
-
At least ten journalists were detained in Istanbul and Izmir following the protests. In a post on X, Turkish NGO Media and Law Studies Association said its legal unit was assisting the journalists.
-
Germany called the jailing of Istanbul mayor and Turkish opposition leader Ekrem İmamoğlu “totally unacceptable” and said it was following the developments with “great concern”. “The arrest and suspension of the mayor of Istanbul is totally unacceptable. This must be clarified very quickly and transparently,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told a press conference.
-
Greenland’s prime minister Mute Egede accused Washington of interfering in its political affairs with the visit of an American delegation later this week to the Danish territory coveted by US president Donald Trump. Usha Vance, the wife of US Vice President JD Vance, will visit Greenland this week with her son and a US delegation including US national security adviser Mike Waltz.
-
Families gathered to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Germanwings plane crash that killed 150 people in March 2015. Memorials took place at the German high school that lost many students to the disaster and also in Le Vernet, near the crash site in the French Alps.
-
A nurse accused of murdering nine palliative care patients went on trial in Germany today, with prosecutors saying he played “master of life and death” over them. Prosecutors said the unnamed 44-year-old man injected a total of 26 patients with large doses of sedatives or painkillers, resulting in the deaths of nine.
-
French actor Gerard Depardieu went on trial today over alleged sexual assaults on a film set. Prosecutors allege assaults against two women – whose full identities have not been revealed – took place during the filming in 2021 of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters). Depardieu denies any wrongdoing.
Erdoğan says protests have turned into 'movement of violence'
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has slammed his opponents, saying protests against the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor, his main political rival, had turned into a “movement of violence”, Reuters reports.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara , Erdoğan added that the main opposition CHP was responsible for any property damage and harm to police officers during the protests, which have been taking place across the country since Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested last week. Erdoğan also said that their “show” would eventually end and they would feel ashamed for the “evil” they did to the country.
Turkey has detained more than 1,100 people, including journalists, as demonstrations continue. The mayor’s imprisonment is widely regarded as a political move to remove a major challenger to Erdoğan from the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028.
AFP gives more details on the German Last Generation protesters who were charged earlier today, including for “forming a criminal organisation”.
The Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed it had filed the charges “against five members” of the movement, which reorganised into two groups earlier this year.
Members of Last Generation released a statement saying they would contest the charges, calling them “an attack on civil society engagement as a cornerstone of democracy”.
Founded in 2021, Last Generation mounted eye-catching, non-violent protests in Germany for several years calling for urgent action to combat climate change. These included throwing mashed potatoes at the glass protecting a Monet painting and repeatedly glueing themselves onto busy roads.
The group’s members briefly halted airport traffic several times by breaking into airports and glueing themselves to the tarmac.
In May last year, prosecutors in the state of Brandenburg said they had charged five members of the group with “forming a criminal organisation” in relation to protests at two oil refineries, Berlin airport and the Barberini Museum in Potsdam.
French actor Gerard Depardieu went on trial today over alleged sexual assaults on a film set, in a case that placed one of France’s best-known movie stars at the heart of the country’s broader reckoning over sexual violence, Reuters reports.
The trial, expected to last at least two days, and possibly more, was initially due to be held in October but was postponed due to Depardieu’s ill health.
As he arrived, Depardieu, his hand on his lawyer’s shoulder, passed calmly past reporters, looking straight at the cameras without saying a word. His lawyer, Jeremie Assous, told reporters that the accusations were false and based on lies. “Truth is on our side,” he said.
Prosecutors allege assaults against two women – whose full identities have not been revealed – took place during the filming in 2021 of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters).
The prosecutors accuse Depardieu of groping one of the women, whom they named Amelie K, on the film set. Three people witnessed the scene, prosecutors say. They say the second woman was groped by Depardieu on set and in the street.
Before the opening of the trial, some activists gathered outside the courthouse in northern Paris. A dozen activists from Bruit qui court, a collective of artist and activists, chanted: “Sexist violence, complicit judicial system.” Others held signs with various slogans criticising Depardieu.
Protests are still under way in Turkey, with demonstrations likely to gear up later this evening.
Earlier today students at the main universities in Istanbul and Ankara called for a boycott of lectures, according to AFP. Young protesters were also preparing to hold a rally at 14.00 GMT by Besiktas port on the Bosphorus, ahead of the main nightly rally outside City Hall at 17.30 GMT.
Since last week, rallies have taken place in at least 55 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, or more than two-thirds of the country, according to a tally by AFP.
German prosecutors have filed charges against five climate activists of the group Last Generation, including for forming a criminal organisation, AFP reports.
The Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed it had “filed charges against five members of Last Generation with the State Security Chamber... for, among other things, forming a criminal organisation”.
Climate activists from the group glued themselves to the tarmac at four German airports last August, forcing a temporary halt to flights as part of their campaign against fossil fuels.
Turkey talks on hold after İmamoğlu's jailing, says Greece
A meeting between Greece and Turkey was improbable to occur shortly after the incarceration of the Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu A Greek government representative stated according to Reuters.
Greece and Turkey, despite being NATO allies with a long-standing enmity, have been at odds for many years regarding their maritime borders in the Aegean Sea, air space, and the ethnically split island of Cyprus.
Having agreed in 2023 to forge ahead with their relationship and repair diplomatic links, both nations planned to convene a high-level cooperation council later this year, potentially as soon as April, to address mutual concerns.
However, the meeting was not expected to occur anytime soon, according to the Greek government spokesman. Pavlos Marinakis stated during a press conference on Monday, after the arrest of İmamoğlu, the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival.
X allegedly suspends accounts of individuals linked with Turkey's opposition.
Various opposition figures in Turkey have seen their X accounts temporarily halted due to civil unrest within the nation. Politico is reporting.
Elon Musk’s social media platform has suspended the activity of “university-associated activist accounts, basically sharing protest information, locations for students to go,” Yusuf Can, coordinator and analyst at the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, told Politico.
He added that many of these accounts are “grassroots activists” with their followings in the low tens of thousands.
Politico reports:
The suspensions come after extensive demonstrations were sparked by the arrest earlier this week of Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. İmamoğlu was arrested just hours before he was nominated to be the presidential candidate for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
The opposition protests have spread despite the government banning gatherings for four days.
Much of the opposition activity has centered around universities, and many of those connected to the demonstrations are now finding their X accounts suspended, observers report.
A nurse accused of murdering nine palliative care patients went on trial in Germany today, with prosecutors saying he played “master of life and death” over them, AFP reports.
Prosecutors said the unnamed 44-year-old man injected a total of 26 patients with large doses of sedatives or painkillers, resulting in the deaths of nine. His motive was allegedly to minimise his workload during his night shifts, prosecutors said at his trial in the western city of Aachen . He was employed in palliative care at a hospital in the nearby town of Wuerselen .
The man allegedly injected the mostly elderly and terminally ill patients and then simply walked out of their rooms, the court heard.
Prosecutors said he lacked motivation in his work and was “annoyed” by the patients, adding that he had considered himself their “master of life and death”.
The nurse did not speak at the start of proceedings. Former colleagues will be called as witnesses in subsequent hearings. The trial’s end date is uncertain while investigations are ongoing.
Are you in Turkey? Share your views and experiences of recent protests with the Guardian.
We would like to hear from people in Turkey about the recent protests and whether they took part. Please share your story if you are 18 or over, anonymously if you wish, by filling out the form on this page .
Isar Aerospace has scrubbed its attempt to launch its first test flight of its orbital launch vehicle from Norway, AP reports.
Unfavourable winds this afternoon meant that the Spectrum rocket could not be launched from the island of Andøya in northern Norway, the German aerospace company said.
The company said it could also conduct the test flight later in the week. Another date has not yet been set.
Portugal’s foreign minister Paulo Rangel and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will hold talks in Beijing on Tuesday, as EU member states fret over the prospect of a trade war with both Washington and Beijing.
This week’s visit would be the first to China by a high-level Portuguese government official in over five years.
The United States is the main destination for Portuguese exports outside the EU, while Portugal is the only country in western Europe still signed on to Beijing’s flagship overseas infrastructure plan, the belt and road initiative.
The European commissioner for trade, Maros Sefcovic , is heading to Washington to meet the US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday, a Commission spokesperson said, Reuters reports.
Sefcovic will also meet with US trade representative Jamieson Greer . The spokesperson declined to provide more details about the discussion.
Donald Trump has threatened the EU – the US’ third biggest trading partner – with 25% tariffs. The EU said last week it may delay implementing its threatened response to US steel and aluminium tariffs.
The imprisonment of Istanbul’s opposition mayor has come at a time when Turkey finds itself at the centre of geopolitical turmoil that observers say has freed president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to target his most dangerous opponent, Ekrem İmamoğlu , AP reports.
Experts suggest that a combination of global elements provided Erdoğan with an opening to attempt mitigating the primary challenge he faces in upcoming elections scheduled for 2028, though they might occur earlier. "A particularly unique alignment of circumstances has made this appear relatively straightforward for him to execute without attracting significant international disapproval or repercussions," explained one analyst. Monica Marks , professor of Middle Eastern Studies at New York University Abu Dhabi.
Berk Esen A political scientist from Istanbul’s Sabanci University stated that the CHP's choice to reaffirm İmamoğlu as their presidential nominee for 2028 played a crucial role in his detention. "Erdogan hoped he might be able to diminish, if not entirely obstruct, İmamoğlu’s chances of running," they explained. "However, once the CHP scheduled the primary elections, it became evident that İmamoğlu would emerge as the party’s candidate, prompting Erdogan to act swiftly against him."
"Erdogan is adhering to the autocrat's manual, focusing on undermining the entities capable of constraining his authority – such as courts, universities, and public figures," he stated. Maya Tudor , professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government. “It is important to remember that day-to-day democracy is not about elections, which happen infrequently and under the glare of international media. It is also about the right of opposition politicians to organise and be heard. When politicians like İmamoğlu cannot disagree with Erdogan without being jailed through trumped up charges, a vital pillar of democratic society dies.”
Germany has called the jailing of Istanbul mayor and Turkish opposition leader Ekrem İmamoğlu “totally unacceptable” and said it was following the developments with “great concern”.
“The arrest and suspension of the mayor of Istanbul is totally unacceptable. This must be clarified very quickly and transparently,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told a press conference.
Reuters provides further quotes from Greenland’s outgoing prime minister Mute Egede , who has criticised a visit to the self-governing Danish territory by US second lady Usha Vance planned for later this week.
Egede called the delegation’s visit, which runs from Thursday to Saturday, a “provocation” and said his caretaker government would not meet with it.
“Until recently, we could trust the Americans, who were our allies and friends, and with whom we enjoyed working closely,” Egede told local newspaper Sermitsiaq. “But that time is over.”
The Greenlandic government is currently in a caretaker phase following a March 11 parliamentary election won by the Democrats. Jens-Frederik Nielsen , leader of the Democrats, called for political unity and criticised the timing of the visit during coalition talks with municipal elections due next week. “We must not be forced into a power game that we ourselves have not chosen to be a part of,” Nielsen said.
Brian Hughes , spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said the visit aims to “build on partnerships that respects Greenland’s self-determination and advances economic cooperation”.
The Danish national police force said it has sent extra personnel and sniffer dogs to Greenland as the island steps up security measures ahead of a planned visit this week by second lady Usha Vance , AP reports.
Spokesperson René Gyldensten said the extra officers were part of regular steps taken during visits by dignitaries to Greenland, a self-governing, mineral-rich territory of American ally Denmark.
Vance’s visit comes at a time when president Donald Trump has suggested the United States should take control of Greenland. Denmark , a NATO ally, insisted the island wasn’t for sale.
More than 1,100 detained in Turkish protests, says interior minister
Turkey's interior minister stated that 1,133 individuals have been apprehended since the demonstrations started on March 19th, according to AFP.
Large-scale protests have taken place in numerous Turkish cities beginning last Wednesday following the arrest of the Istanbul mayor. Ekrem İmamoğlu , the primary political opponent of the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan .
Families came together to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the GermanwINGS aircraft disaster, which resulted in 150 fatalities back in March 2015.
Investigations revealed that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, intentionally crashed the aircraft. Memorial services were held at the German secondary school which had numerous students perish in the tragedy, as well as in Le Vernet, close to where the plane went down in the French Alps.
At least ten reporters were held in custody in Istanbul and Izmir after extensive demonstrations erupted across Turkey due to the detention of Istanbul's controversial mayor. Ekrem İmamoğlu , the primary political opponent of the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan .
Following a tweet on X, the Turkish NGO Media and Law Studies Association stated that their legal team was providing assistance to the reporters involved. The organization also mentioned that over 20 journalists were reportedly subjected to physical attacks by law enforcement during the past four days of protests.
Greenland PM denounces 'foreign interference' ahead of US visit
Greenland’s prime minister Mute Egede accused Washington of interfering in its political affairs with the visit of an American delegation later this week to the Danish territory coveted by US president Donald Trump , AFP reports.
Usha Vance , the wife of US Vice President JD Vance , will visit Greenland this week with her son and a US delegation, which Egede said would include US national security adviser Mike Waltz .
“It should be said clearly that our integrity and democracy must be respected without foreign interference,” Egede said, adding that the delegation’s visit, from Thursday to Saturday, “cannot be seen as just a private visit”.
Since returning to power in January, Trump has insisted he wants the United States to take over Greenland and even refused to rule out the use of force to achieve the aim.
Egede said Washington had been told there would be “no talks” until a new Greenlandic government was in place after 11 March general elections that left him heading a caretaker government.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen , leader of the centre-right Democrats that won the election and likely future Greenlandic prime minister, has previously criticised Trump’s moves on Greenland as “inappropriate”.
A private European aerospace company is set to make the first test flight of its orbital launch vehicle from Norway later today, AP reports.
The launch window for its Spectrum rocket from the island of Andøya in northern Norway is 12.30pm to 3.30pm local time, said German start-up, Isar Aerospace. The launch is subject to weather, safety and range infrastructure, and the company said it also could conduct the test flight later in the week.
The 28-meter- (91-foot-) Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle designed for small and medium-sized satellites. The company largely ruled out the possibility of the rocket reaching orbit on its first complete flight, saying it would consider a 30-second flight a success.
Isar Aerospace is separate from the European Space Agency, or ESA, which is funded by its 23 members states. ESA has been launching rockets and satellites into orbit for years, but mainly from French Guiana — an overseas department of France in South America — and from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Istanbul's mayor to be presidential candidate, says CHP
Istanbul’s embattled mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu was officially nominated as a presidential candidate by the opposition CHP party for the 2028 elections, a party spokesman told AFP on Monday.
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) – the main opposition party and the second largest party in parliament – held a primary election on Sunday, at which the only candidate was İmamoğlu, the main political rival of president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan .
İmamoğlu’s arrest and detention on corruption charges has sparked huge protests in Turkey.
Turkish journalists held after covering protests
Turkish authorities have detained nine journalists who covered overnight protests against the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu , the Journalists Union of Turkey said, Reuters reports.
A Turkish court on Sunday jailed İmamoğlu , president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, pending trial on corruption charges in a move that triggered the country’s biggest protests in more than a decade.
Despite bans on street gatherings in many cities, mostly peaceful anti-government demonstrations were held for a fifth night in a row last night. It was not immediately clear why the journalists were detained.
A post on the union’s Facebook page listed the names of the journalists it said had been detained in dawn raids in Istanbul and Izmir.
China said it hopes a visit later this week by the French foreign minister would see the countries deepen cooperation in a world facing “turbulence and transformation”, AFP reports.
France and China have sought to strengthen ties in recent years, but Paris has also pressed Beijing on its ties with Moscow, which have strengthened since the invasion of Ukraine.
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot is set to visit the Chinese capital Beijing and economic powerhouse Shanghai on Thursday and Friday, his first visit since becoming the country’s top diplomat last year.
“The current international situation is increasingly turbulent and complex, with a notable rise in instability and uncertainty,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said, adding that Barrot will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Opening summary: huge Turkish demonstrations over mayor's arrest
Good morning and welcome to our blog covering developments in Europe amid escalating protests in Turkey triggered by the imprisonment of the mayor of Istanbul and top rival to president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan .
On Sunday, a court formally arrested mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu , sending him to pre-trial detention on the day he received his party’s nomination to run for president. His initial arrest and detention on Wednesday sparked the largest wave of street demonstrations in Turkey in more than a decade and deepened concerns over democracy and the rule of law in the country.
Last night, tens of thousands of demonstrators who massed near Istanbul’s city hall for a fifth straight evening, angry at the decision to officially arrest İmamoğlu, faced police who pepper-sprayed crowds and fired teargas. In İzmir , video showed police attempting to disperse protests using armoured water cannon trucks.
The mayor's detention is broadly seen as a strategic maneuver to sideline a significant opponent of Erdoğan ahead of the upcoming presidential election in 2028. However, government representatives firmly deny these claims and assert that Turkey's judicial system functions autonomously.
İmamoğlu was detained amid suspicions that he led a criminal group, accepted bribes, extorted money, unlawfully collected personal information, and engaged in bid rigging—allegations which he refutes. Although a plea to incarcerate him over terrorism-linked charges was dismissed, he continues to face potential legal action.
In other developments:
-
Usha Vance, who is married to the US Vice-President JD Vance, plans to visit Greenland on Thursday during the presidency. Donald Trump holds onto the notion of a US incorporation of the strategically important, partly self-governing Danish territory. Vance will visit Greenland on Thursday with a US delegation to tour historical sites, learn about the territory’s heritage and attend the national dogsled race, the White House said in a statement.
-
Hundreds of victims’ families are commemorating the 10th anniversary of the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 in the French Alps, which killed all 150 people on board. Investigators said the plane was deliberately downed by the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz. Memorials are planned Monday for 10.41am — the moment of the crash — at the German high school that lost so many students and also in Le Vernet, near the crash site in the mountains.
-
French actor Gérard Depardieu will face charges in a Paris court of sexually assaulting two women during the filming of a movie in 2021. Depardieu is accused of groping a set dresser and an assistant director during production of the film Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters). The actor denies the charges.
-
Press freedom in Serbia is facing a “dangerous turning point” after mounting pressure on independent outlets from ministers and state-backed media, a group of senior editors has warned. The editors, who are all from publications within the independent United Media group, said their reporters faced “constant harassment, physical attacks and smear campaigns” after their reporting in the country, which has been gripped by protests against its autocratic president, Aleksandar Vučić .
-
Tuberculosis (TB) cases amongst children across Europe increased by 10% in 2023, signalling persistent circulation of the disease and underscoring the urgency for prompt public health actions to curb its propagation, according to the World Health Organization. "The alarming increase in tuberculosis cases among children is a stark reminder that our advancements against this preventable and treatable illness remain precarious," stated Hans Henri Kluge, who is the Regional Director for Europe at the WHO.