Istanbul court to rule on mayor's arrest after mass protests

Istanbul court to rule on mayor's arrest after mass protests

Riot police used tear gas during at the Istanbul protest

A Turkish court was set to rule on Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's detention on Sunday, after vast crowds rallying in support of him clashed with riot police.

The Caglayan court was expected to decide whether to charge or release him, his lawyer said, after a fourth night of protests sparked a harsh crackdown in Turkey's worst street unrest in over a decade.

The popular opposition mayor, who is the biggest political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested on Wednesday, just days before he was to be named the main opposition CHP's candidate for the 2028 presidential race. 

He was detained in connection with two probes alleging graft and "aiding a terror organisation" -- accusations which he on Saturday told police were "immoral and baseless". 

The move against him sparked protests in Istanbul and have since spread to more than 55 of Turkey's 81 provinces, sparking running battles with police. 

Following more mass protests late on Saturday, police arrested 323 people, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X. 

Also Sunday, the CHP pressed ahead with its long-planned primary to name Imamoglu its presidential candidate, with polls opening at 8:00 am (0500 GMT), an AFP correspondent said. 

The party has opened the vote to anyone, not just party members, in the hope of a massive show of support for the beleaguered mayor, widely seen as the only politician capable of challenging Erdogan.

- Rubber bullets, grenades -

"Dictators are cowards!" and "AKP (Turkey's ruling party), you will not silence us!" read some of the placards at the Istanbul protest late Saturday, which appeared bigger and denser than the previous night.

Riot police used rubber bullets, pepper spray and percussion grenades on the Istanbul protesters, toughening their methods shortly after midnight (2100 GMT) and forcing those who could to take refuge inside City Hall building, an AFP correspondent said. 

In the capital Ankara, riot police used water cannon to push back protesters, while in the western coastal city of Izmir police blocked a student march headed towards the local AKP offices.

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel, addressing the massed protesters in Istanbul, told them they numbered "more than half a million". 

The nightly protests which were taking place across the country, began shortly after Imamoglu was taken to the courthouse to answer prosecutors' questions in the two investigations. 

The first interrogation began at 7:30 pm, ending around midnight, with the second starting shortly after, ending around 7:30 am, media reports and his legal team said. 

Police set up a tight security cordon around the courthouse where around 1,000 protesters stood nearby shouting slogans, an AFP correspondent said.

- Turkish lira slides -

Earlier Saturday, the 53-year-old mayor denied the charges against him, telling police his arrest had done untold damage to Turkey's reputation, in a statement released by City Hall.

"This process has not only harmed Turkey's international reputation but has also shattered the public's sense of justice and trust in the economy," he said.

The move against him badly hurt the lira and caused chaos in Turkey's financial markets with the benchmark BIST 100 index closing Friday nearly 8.0 percent lower.

"We are here today to stand up for the candidate we voted for," 30-year-old Aykut Cenk told AFP outside the court, holding a Turkish flag.

"Just as people took the streets to stand up for Erdogan after the July 15 (2016) coup, we are now taking to the streets for Imamoglu," Cenk said. 

"We are not the enemy of the state, but what is happening is unlawful."

The unrest has spread rapidly despite a protest ban in Turkey's three largest cities and a warning from Erdogan that the authorities would not tolerate "street terror".

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