Imamoglu appeared at the Caglayan courthouse in Istanbul late on Saturday, answering DA’s questions on charges of fraud and aiding and abetting terrorism. The testimony lasted over 5 hours, with Imamoglu reportedly being quizzed with 70 questions. The court is expected to make a decision whether he will released pending trial, or sent to prison. In the meantime, in scenes reminiscent of 2013 historic Gezi uprisings, hundreds of thousands of Erdogan antagonists flocked to Istanbul’s Sarachane Square, the location of the Municipality Building.
Dozens of other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained. Many view the arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove a popular opposition figure in the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028.
Earlier in the day the 53-year-old mayor was quizzed by police for five hours. He denounced the accusations against him as "immoral and baseless," 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," Imamoglu said. A day earlier he was questioned for four hours over the corruption accusations.
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News of his arrest badly hurt the Turkish lira and caused chaos in domestic financial markets.
Reuters news agency cited documents showing that Imamoglu had answered at least 70 questions during his police interrogation. The court decision on whether to release him or jail him pending trial was expected in the early hours of Sunday.
The mayor's Republican People's Party (CHP), the main center-left opposition, condemned Imamoglu's detention and urged supporters to demonstrate lawfully. Imamoglu is due to be named CHP's official presidential candidate for the next election in Sunday’s nationwide preliminaries.
Fourth night of protests erupts
Huge crowds gathered outside Istanbul City Hall — the fourth night of demonstrations over Imamoglu's arrest. Organizers said around 300,000 protesters took part, many waving red Turkish flags and unfurling angry banners reading: "Dictators are cowards!"
On the fringes of the rally, demonstrators once again clashed with riot police, who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray, correspondents from AFP news agency said.
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Around 1,000 protesters, meanwhile, gathered outside the Istanbul court where Imamoglu was being questioned by prosecutors,
"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," 30-year-old Aykut Cenk told AFP outside the court, adding that he was "the candidate we voted for."
The authorities barred access to the courthouse using road barricades while shutting nearby metro stations.
Hundreds of police officers and over a dozen water cannon trucks were deployed.
The protests defied a ban on public gatherings in the city by the Istanbul governor's office, which was extended and tightened on Saturday.
Since Wednesday, the demonstrations have spread to more than 55 of Turkey's 81 provinces.
Protesters also clashed with police in the western coastal province of Izmir and the capital Ankara for a third night in a row, with police firing water cannon at the crowds.
Thousands marched in several other cities calling on the government to resign. These included conservative, pro-AKP bastions like the cities of Konya, Trabzon, Rize and Elazig.
What has the Turkish government said?
Government officials have rejected accusations that the legal cases against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey's courts operate independently.
Erdogan on Saturday accused the CHP's leadership of turning the party "into an apparatus to absolve a handful of municipal robbers who have become blinded by money." He also accused the party of "doing everything to disturb the public peace, to polarize the nation."
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted on social media that 343 suspects had been detained during Friday night's protests.
Yerlikaya said there would be "no tolerance for those who seek to violate societal order, threaten the people's peace and security, and pursue chaos and provocation."
International press sources
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