A large number of journalists were arrested on the charge of "violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations"

At least 14 journalists covering protests against the arrest and subsequent imprisonment of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu were arrested in İstanbul and İzmir. Seven of the journalists arrested in İstanbul were imprisoned pending trial for violating the law on protests but were released after two days in detention.

Among the 14 journalists were BBC correspondent Mark Lowen, who had traveled to Istanbul to report on the protests, the largest in at least a decade. Lowen was taken from his hotel room on 26 March and kept in detention for 17 hours before being deported for "being a threat to public order," according to a statement from BBC. 

On 24 and 25 March, police arrested at least 11 journalists covering the protests in İstanbul and İzmir. Most of the journalists were taken from their homes in police raids in the early hours of Monday, 24 March, while some were arrested during the protests. Seven of the journalists arrested in house raids in Istanbul on 24 March -- AFP photojournalist Yasin Akgül, NOW TV correspondent Ali Onur Tosun, photojournalists Bülent Kılıç, Kurtuluş Arı and Gökhan Kam, and journalists Hayri Tunç and Zeynep Kuray -- were imprisoned pending trial on the following day on the charge of “violating the Law No. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations," despite information provided by the authorities earlier in the day that they were all due to be released. The journalists were kept in detention for two days before being released from prison on 27 March.

Sendika.org reporter Zişan Gür was also arrested in Istanbul early on 24 March while covering the protests. He was released on 27 March. An arrest warrant was issued against journalist Emre Orman as well but he could not be arrested as he was not at home at the time of the police raid on 24 March. He was later released after giving his statement to the police.

In İzmir, BirGün columnist Barış İnce and Murat Kocabaş were arrested in house raids on March 24. A third journalist, İzmir Journalists Association Board Member Yağız Bulut, was later arrested while filming the protests in the city. All three journalists were released on 27 March. 

Two more journalists, Evrensel reporter Nisa Sude Demirel and Etkin News Agency (ETHA) reporter Elif Bayburt, were arrested in police raids on their homes on Friday, 28 March. They were also following the protests in Istanbul, according to Evrensel and ETHA.