ISTANBUL, March 28, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Istanbul's jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said in a social media post on Friday that his lawyer had been detained and demanded his immediate release.

"My lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan was detained on fictitious grounds," Imamoglu said in a post on X published via his legal team.

"As if the coup against democracy was not enough, they cannot tolerate the victims defending themselves," he wrote, adding: "Release my lawyer immediately."

Two more Turkish journalists were also detained in dawn raids on their homes for covering the mass protests that have swept across the country, sparked by Imamoglu's arrest on March 19, the Turkish Journalists' Union (TGS) said in a post on X.

The union identified them as Nisa Sude Demirel, a reporter for the Evrensel newspaper, and Elif Bayburt who works for the ETHA news agency.

"Another dawn raid. Two of our colleagues who were following the #Sarachane protests were detained," it said, referring to the protests by using the name of the district where Istanbul City Hall is located.

"Let journalists do their job! Stop these unlawful detentions!" the union said.

On Thursday, the Turkish authorities released the last of 11 journalists who had been arrested in dawn raids on Monday for covering the protests, among them AFP photographer Yasin Akgul.