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Turkey's clampdown

The arrest of Istanbul's mayor, President Erdogan's main rival, sparked mass protests and a heavy response by authorities.

Kate Adie presents stories from Turkey, the US, El Salvador, and Georgia.

The arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu and the main rival to President Erdogan has sparked outrage in Turkey and led to some of the worst unrest the country has seen in a decade. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested and there鈥檚 been a crackdown on the media, which included a 成人快手 correspondent being detained and deported. Emily Wither has been in Istanbul.

The perils of group messaging apps were in plain sight this week after a US journalist was accidentally added to a group chat of high-level US officials discussing a planned US attack on Houthi positions in Yemen. Bernd Debusman was in a White House press conference with President Trump shortly after the story broke.

Earlier this month, more than 200 Venezuelans were deported to El Salvador from the US under an 18th century law. The move prompted an outcry in the US and Venezuela. Will Grant has been in San Salvador where he spoke to relatives of the detainees.

An election in Georgia last year saw the return to power of the Georgian Dream party. Months of protests ensued, amid claims the results were 鈥榯otally falsified.鈥� Rayhan Demytrie has been to the village and birthplace of the billionaire founder of the ruling party, and spoke to his supporters.

And finally, this week the interview programme 鈥楬ardtalk鈥� will go off air for good. For almost three decades Hardtalk has maintained a tradition of one-on-one, longform interviews with the powerful, in politics, business and culture. Stephen Sackur, a former correspondent in Washington, Jerusalem and Brussels shares some of his most memorable encounters.

Series producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Max Deveson
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 30 Mar 2025 21:30

Broadcasts

  • Sat 29 Mar 2025 11:30
  • Sun 30 Mar 2025 21:30