In March 2025, shortly after the start of demonstrations in Turkey, a video spread on the Internet that states thousands of protesters on the streets of Istanbul and other cities. We checked the correctness of such publications.
On March 19, the Turkish police detained the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu and several dozen of his associates, which caused large demonstrations throughout the country. Many media and Telegram channels illustrated their notes on this subject with videos allegedly shot during such shares. In particular, in one video, thousands of people accompany cars passing along the road, and on the other the crowd filled the square and nearby streets. Many publications specify that the video was shot in the first hours after the news of the detention of Imamoglu.
Either one, or at once both videos with similar signatures were published by Telegram channels Mash (1.1 million views at the time of writing this analysis), "Live broadcast • News"(833,000),"Caution, news"(517 000),"Context"(270 000),"Zlaya Pruf"(223,000),"#Montyan!"(223,000),"Istanbul wolf"(210 000),"Truthfulness"(175 000),"What happened?"(83,000) and others, as well as some Russian media (for example,"Moika 78" And "E1.ru").
Ekremoglu - Mayor Istanbul and key Opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On March 19, it Arrested On charges of corruption and relations with the Kurdistan Workers Party, which the Turkish authorities consider to be a terrorist organization. The detention occurred a few days before the congress of the opposition Republican People's Party, where Imamoglu nevertheless chosen candidate for presidency in the election of 2028.
The arrest of politics provoked Mass demonstrations throughout the country, in which tens of thousands of people took part. Stock Accompanied clashes with the police, the use of tear gas and water, as well as the detention of demonstrators and journalists. Politico reportedThat the social network X against the backdrop of protests limited access to the accounts of opposition politicians and activists in Turkey.
Closing such demonstrations, the media actively use photos and videos from the scene. Professional journalists resting At the same time, on the frames, Removed local reporters or correspondents of the world's largest agencies. However, some media in pursuit of efficiency often do not wait for pictures and rollers of their colleagues, seeking illustrative material to social networks.
Video with buses
One of the hovering videos shows a crowd of people accompanying the column of buses and cars. Lasting 28 sec. The video was shot in the dark from a certain hill. Although the video has low quality, there are no Turkish flags or portraits of Imamoglu on it, which could indicate that it was removed during recent protests. At the same time, the alleged demonstrators are dressed mainly in white clothes.
Google's reverse search showed that for the first time this video was published September 11, 2024, about six months before the start of protests in Turkey. Then this video was shared in Tiktok by a user with the username @Rey.marques, adding, in particular, the hashtags #timor and #pausfransiskus ( #Timer and #Papafransisk, respectively).
Shortly before the publication of a blogger in East Timor Arrived Pope Francis. On September 9, 2024, he spent a mass in the capital of the country - Dili. About 600,000 people gathered for it, more than 40% of the total population. It is believed that this mass became the largest in history in terms of the ratio of the number of its participants to the population of the state where it passed. In total, about 95% of the inhabitants of East Timor professing Catholicism, the country according to this indicator occupies One of the first places in the world.
The quality of the original video is much higher, which allows you to consider the details. For example, in about the middle of the video you can see banners on the wall along which the crowd is located. They are very reminiscent of stretch marks with a portrait of Pope, which hit In the lenses of the media that shot Francis to East Timor. On the frames from the reports of Reuters and Associated Press, people, like on a viral video, are dressed mainly in white.
After the completion of the Mass, Pope Francis I drove The streets of the evening Dili in his car, welcoming the assembled. People lined up along the roads to conduct a pontiff and ask for blessings. It was these events that the user who subsequently posted the video in Tiktok captured.
This video is not the first time in the wrong context. So, in October 2024, some Indian Internet users Approvedthat the video shows the procession of Muslims in Mumbai. In September of the same year appeared Posts that the record is allegedly captured by a rally in support of the former president, Philippines Rodrigo Duterte. And in March 2025, almost simultaneously with protests in Turkey, this is the same video issued For demonstrations in Delhi.
On the evening of March 19, against the backdrop of rallies that began in Turkey, this video again became popular (and again with incorrect signatures). Initially, it spread in the social network Xwhere such publications in different languages Sicked dozens thousands Views. Posts that the events in the video unfold in Turkey also appeared in Instagram, Facebook, and later in Russian -speaking Telegram channels.
Thus, these personnel are in no way connected with protests in Turkey. The video was shot in September 2024 during the visit of Pope to East Timor.
Video with protesters in the square
The author of another video, which became viral after the start of protests in Turkey, captured the crowd in a certain square and people who come there from nearby streets. Users who spread this video claim that it was shot in Istanbul on March 19, immediately after the detention of Imamoglu. The video lasts only 8 seconds, and on it, as in the first case, it is difficult to consider the details.
The reverse search by the image showed that the first posts with this video appeared three months before the arrest of the Istanbul mayor. The earliest publication that managed to find "verified" was Made In the social network X by the user with the username @theonlyone_mile on December 22 at 19:20 Moscow time. There are no geotags or comments on the post about where the video was shot.
However, the reputing this video write that events unfold in Belgrade. Among such users are a journalist ANDLA MILILOVICH. According to her, the video is a demonstration against President Serbia Alexander Vucic. Mass protests in this country Continue Since November, when 15 people died in Novi-Sad as a result of the collapse of the canopy at the railway station (another victim died In the hospital in March).
A large rally in Belgrade on December 22, 2024 was written as Serbian, so international Media. In their materials they Used Personnel similar to a viral video, noting that they were shot in Slavia Square. From another angle rally I got it In the lens of the AFP agency, whose journalists also shot a report from the scene.
The earliest publication in which this video was associated with protests in Turkey and which managed to find "verified", appeared March 19 at 20:15 Moscow time on the social network X. User @IYii1insan_ accompanied the video with hashtags in Turkish: “On the street”, “Government to resign”, “Ekremoglu”, etc. This post gained 1.2 million views. Subsequently, the video spread in other languages in X, Instagram And on Reddit, and also attracted the attention of Russian -speaking Telegram channels And Media.
Thus, this video also has nothing to do with protests in Turkey. It was shot in December 2024, during anti -government demonstrations in Serbia.
Photo on the cover: social networks
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