Turkey’s Opposition Is Energized: ‘The Fire Is Already Lit’

Turkey’s largest opposition party is organizing rallies, urging boycotts of pro-government businesses and standing by its presidential candidate — even if he will have to campaign from jail.

At universities, students have formed councils to direct protests and spread the word, sharing tips for dealing with the riot police and tear gas. Their efforts — part of the largest wave of political protest in Turkey in more than a decade — were catalyzed by the government’s March 19 arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s top political rival.

They have been met with equally vast measures by Mr. Erdogan’s government to quash them. But instead of cowing opposition supporters, the crackdown seems to be energizing them.

“Everybody in the forums and meetings says this is not only about Imamoglu,” said Irem Tacyildiz, 24, an economics student at Middle East Technical University in the capital, Ankara, who has participated in protests. “The fire is already lit.”

But it remains unclear to what extent the nascent protest movement can sustain its momentum and succeed in persuading or forcing the government to change course.

The government removed Mr. Imamoglu from his post and jailed him last Sunday pending trial on corruption charges. That same day, his political party picked him as its candidate in the next presidential election.