Turkish-Americans in the United States have staged protests in four major cities, marking four months since the controversial imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Demonstrators called for justice for 16 jailed mayors and condemned what they described as “punishment without trial.”

Rallies were held in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, coordinated by the March 19 Platform, a grassroots group formed after İmamoğlu’s arrest on 19 March. Turkish citizens from 15 U.S. states gathered to voice their opposition to the growing number of political detentions in Turkey.

One of the central figures highlighted at the protests was Murat Çalık, the mayor of Beylikdüzü, a district on the European side of Istanbul. Çalık, who is battling a recurrence of lymphoma, remains in custody despite widespread calls for his release on medical grounds—a situation critics have labelled inhumane and politically motivated.

Çalık’s mother, Gülümser Çalık, has reportedly waited outside the hospital where her son is receiving treatment under guard, able to see him only through a barred window.

To underscore Çalık’s absence, protesters placed........

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