Yasin Akgul, a photojournalist for Agence France-Presse (AFP), detained this week as he covered the mass protests that have broken out in his native Turkey following the arrest and jailing of presidential contender Ekrem Imamoglu, was reported by his employer as saying after his release on March 27 that his profession is under threat in the country.

In an interview, Akgul, 35, who spent four days in custody, condemned a push "to make it impossible" to send images of the protests to the world.

Akgul, who must still face the charges, said: "I had been covering the protests for four days... The day before my arrest [Sunday March 23], I got burns on my hands from so much exposure to tear gas. That night, I had trouble sleeping. I was woken up at dawn by a dozen police officers knocking at my door.

"The noise woke my wife and son. 'You'll be back home after you give your deposition', the officers said. I left without being able to see my daughter. During the 48 hours I was detained at police headquarters and then at the courthouse, I thought I'd be released at any moment, since all I'd done was my job."

He added: "The justice minister [Yilmaz Tunc] has admitted that covering protests is part of a journalist's job. In the picture taken by police, it's impossible to say I'm doing anything but journalism. But to designate me as a protester, my camera was deliberately masked in the image.

"The decision to throw me in jail came even though my identity as a journalist was known, and evidence provided to prove it."

He added that until now, it had mainly been reporters and opinion writers targeted in Turkey and that a photojournalist had never been jailed for doing his job.

"I see that [change] as a desire to make it impossible to cover current events in images. Other well-known photographers were arrested at the same time as me," he reflected, concluding: "Having my camera taken added to the pressure. I've been a photographer for 18 years and I've never not had my camera. I bring it with me wherever I go, because I know news can happen anytime in Turkey. That's what I'm here for: to document and share the news.

"I hope no other journalists will face a situation like this. But unfortunately, I fear that arbitrary acts to silence journalists and stop them from doing their job will continue in Turkey.”

On March 27, the BBC reported that Turkey deported its correspondent Mark Lowen over his reporting of the protests.

Police target student gathering

Covering the protest events on March 27, The Associated Press (AP), reported some pro-opposition local media as reporting that police in Ankara used pepper spray, plastic pellets and water cannon after student demonstrators tried to march and assembled for the reading of a statement near the gates at Middle East Technical University.

It said that a standoff ensued. The students then hid behind a barricade of dumpsters until the police charged to detain them.

Melih Meric, a legislator with Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was reportedly witnessed soaked with water and suffering from pepper spray exposure.

“My student friends only wanted to make a press statement, but the police strictly did not allow it, this is the result,” Meric said in social media videos.

Imamoglu's lawyer detained

Imamoglu’s lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, who has represented him in multiple cases and in proceedings that have taken place since his March 19 arrest, was detained late on March 27, according to a post on Imamoglu’s social media account. No formal charges were immediately announced.

“There is no end to lies or slander in the prohibitionist mind,” Imamoglu wrote on X. “This time, my lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan was detained on fictitious grounds. As if the coup against democracy was not enough, they cannot tolerate the victims of this coup defending themselves. They want to add a legal coup to the coup against democracy. The evil that a handful of incompetent people are inflicting on our country is growing. Release my lawyer immediately.”

Speaking to international media representatives in Istanbul, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said Ankara had asked its European partners to act with "common sense", reported Reuters, adding that the minister said the gravity of the allegations against Imamoglu required his arrest.

"We don't want the arrest of any politician, but if there is evidence of a violation then it can happen," Tunc said through a translator.

"If we look at the gravity of the allegations, and as there is risk that evidence can be concealed, the judiciary has made a reasonable decision," he added.

Macron talks of "systematic attacks on freedoms"

French President Emmanuel Macron on March 27 took aim at the Turkish government for carrying out "systematic attacks" on freedoms.

"[Europe] needs a Turkey that assumes its responsibilities for European security, [and] continues on its democratic path by respecting the commitments it has made," he said.

The CHP has called on Turks to continue protesting. It said it would organise rallies and gatherings at different locations in Istanbul and elsewhere. A big Saturday March 29 protest for Istanbul that will launch Imamoglu’s presidential candidacy is planned.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 1,879 people had been detained since the protests erupted on March 19, adding that courts jailed 260 of them pending trial. He also said that 489 were released and 662 others were still being processed, while 150 police officers were injured.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkey 158th of 180 countries in its 2024 press freedom index. It said some 90% of media was under government influenc.

Tunc said the index did not portray the truth.

"We are being punished for reporting, for trying to make the voices of the people on the streets heard, for broadcasting the recent largest public gatherings that are taking place in Turkey," SZC TV editor-in-chief Ozgur Cakmakci told Reuters.

"I don't think it makes any sense. We are being punished for just doing our job."