Here’s a fluent and natural English translation of the text:
Turkish courts today ordered the release of 93 young people who had been detained for taking part in protests in support of the imprisoned mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu—bringing the total number of released protesters this week to 200, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
An Istanbul court, in its ruling to release 59 of those young people, justified the decision by noting that some of the accused “are students” and face “the risk of having their studies disrupted,” according to the court decision shared by lawyers representing several of the detained youths.
Turkish media and officials from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition party, reported that another 34 young protesters were expected to be released today.
Previously, Turkish courts had ordered the release of 107 young people detained on the same charges of participating in gatherings that had been banned by the government, following the March 19 arrest of Istanbul’s popular mayor, Imamoglu—President Erdoğan’s main political rival.
According to the CHP and several lawyers, over 300 students were taken into pretrial detention after their arrests.
Meanwhile today, CHP Deputy Chair Gökçe Gökçen stated that authorities have launched a new investigation into 49 more young people, accusing them of “insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan” due to a slogan heard during the protests.
Turkish authorities, who have faced a wave of protests unprecedented since the Gezi Park demonstrations in 2013, announced on March 27 that 1,879 people had been arrested in various cities across the country. No further updates have been issued since then.
Protests against Imamoglu’s arrest, which had paused during the Eid al-Fitr holidays and with universities closed, resumed this week in both Istanbul and Ankara—albeit with smaller turnouts.
Still, the CHP has called for large rallies every weekend in cities across the country. The first is scheduled for this Sunday in Samsun, a major Black Sea port in northern Turkey.
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