The 'charisma battle' at the heart of the Turkish protests

Sky News Daily

Monday, 24 March 2025 - 16 minutes

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Turkey, following the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu – the main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Opposition leader Mr Imamoglu is a popular politician and is a 2028 presidential nominee – but last Wednesday he was detained and later formally arrested for corruption, a move he believes is politically motivated. On Sky News Daily, Liz Bates talks to Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford who has been reporting from Istanbul and meeting with protesters. She also speaks to Hannah Lucinda Smith, the author of Erdogan Rising: The Battle For The Soul Of Turkey, about who Ekrem Imamoglu is and what his arrest tells us about the direction President Erdogan is taking the country. Help us understand more about our listeners by taking our survey! This form should only take a few minutes to complete, and Sky anonymises the responses as much as possible Podcast producer: Rosie GillottEditor: Paul Stanworth