site.btaIstanbul's Sisli District Authorities Ban Rallies on March 9-11

Istanbul's central Sisli district authorities have imposed a three-day ban on rallies and other mass events on March 9-11, Turkish national television TRTHaber reported.

"It has been found that various marginal groups are preparing through social media to hold unauthorized demonstrations in the Sisli area. These groups, which are trying to organize in order to disturb the peace of the city and their fellow citizens, will not be allowed to carry out unauthorized activities and make announcements to the media. For this reason, all types of mass meetings, rallies, demonstrations and press releases are banned from March 9 to 11," Sisli authorities said in a statement posted on X.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, a number of streets and boulevards in the direction from Taksim Square towards Sisli and Nisantasi were blocked off for vehicle traffic. Barriers of several rows have been put up in many places. 

Access to the area around the Syrian Embassy, which is located in Sisli, has been blocked by riot police soldiers as well as armoured police cars. Security measures have been stepped up everywhere, the Demiroren Haber Ajansi news agency reported.

The heightened security measures have been taken in connection with a protest demonstration by Alawite communities scheduled for March 9 in front of the Syrian consulate in Sisli.

On March 8, Alawite associations issued a statement calling on their supporters to rally under the slogan "Stop the slaughter of Alawites in Syria", Turkish media reported.

Despite the ban, a large group of representatives of the Alawite associations headed to the Syrian embassy in Sisli at midday to make an announcement to the media. Police, however, did not allow them to reach the embassy and pushed them away from the area. The crowd with a police cordon then headed to Macka Park. There, they laid a black wreath. An address was read out protesting against the executions and torture of the Alawite people in Syria, according to the newspapers Cumhuriyet and Birgun.

According to official figures, about 4-5 million Alawites live in Turkiye. Some 2,000 associations are believed to be registered in the country. The Alawites are considered a branch of Shia Islam, which is why they are not accepted as an official religion in Turkiye, they do not have mosques, but they have complexes for rituals and gatherings.