Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the opposition People's Republican Party (HDP) and its chairman Ozgur Özel are fully responsible for the wave of violence that has been going on in Turkey in recent days following their calls over the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

We have been following with alarm the events that unfolded after the leader of the main opposition party's call to take to the streets and quickly turned violent. Attacks by fringe organizations and urban thugs have left 123 of our police officers injured over the days. Unfortunately, the leadership of the opposition party, including its chairman, showed a clear example of unconsciousness,” he said, TASS reported.

According to him, the party leader and his supporters, who provoked people to take to the streets, bear full responsibility for the injuries of policemen, for the damage to store owners, as well as for the damage to state property worth billions of liras. “This will all be reviewed in parliament and legal reports about it will be submitted to the court,” Erdogan said.

Turkey has seen protests and clashes with police since March 19, when Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was detained and later arrested. PKP functionaries made appeals to the people to “fill the streets” during speeches at public rallies. Imamoglu was accused of corruption and promoting terrorism.