The mayor of Istanbul detained Imamoglu denies the accusations of terrorism: Report | Protests

The mayor of Istanbul detained Ekrem Imamoglu denied the accusations of terrorism against him, according to a legal document seen by the Reuters news agency

I see today during my interrogation that I and my colleagues are confronted with unimaginable charges and slander, said Imamoglu on Saturday in his defense during a hearing, the document said.

Later on Saturday, Imamoglu arrived at the Caglayan courthouse, where he was to be questioned by prosecutors, said a spokesperson for the town hall. Imamoglu will compare on Sunday as a judge should decide to imprison it or release it.

The mayor, a key opposition figure and a potential challenger by longtime president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested by the government on Wednesday for alleged corruption and terrorism.

His detention occurred four days before his Republican People's Party (CHP) planned to appoint him as a presidential candidate in 2028.

Erdogan accused the CHPS leaders on Saturday of transformed the party into a apparatus to aband a handful of municipal thieves who have become blinded by money.

He also accused it of doing everything to disrupt public peace, to polarize the nation.

Appearance before the court

Reporting from Ankara, Al Jazeeras Stefanie Dekker said that Imamoglu was going to be transferred from police custody to judicial custody on Saturday.

We understand that he will have a health check with approximately 100 others which are also charged, then he will be transferred to the courthouse. He will therefore be questioned by a prosecutor later tonight, she said.

Then tomorrow morning, he appears before a judge, and the judge will make the decision to know if he is released without accusation, released awaiting trial or detained in the meantime, she added.

Feeling of being trapped

The Imamoglus judgment sparked a wave of demonstrations that spread within 48 hours to more than two -thirds of the provinces of Turkiyes 81, including even bastions of Erdogans leading justice and the development party, such as the central zone of Konya and Trabzon and Rize on the Black Sea.

The Minister of Justice, Yilmaz Tunc, told journalists this week that the arrests had nothing to do with the government. Investigations and cases launched by the judiciary to our president are, at best, presumptuous and inappropriate, he said.

Erdogans' communications department also said that the presidency would continue to defend it against what it called an irrational smear campaign.

Despite the ban on demonstrations and a strong police presence, large crowds of demonstrators went down to the street.

Turkiye saw a fourth consecutive night of protests on Saturday.

The feeling of being economically trapped, socially, politically and even culturally was already widespread, said Kemal Can, journalist and author of many books on Turkish society, to the AFP news agency.

But Erdogan still retains support in many regions of the country that trusts the government due to the history of the current Country and Environment Division.

The Imamoglus judgment, said, said a strong reaction, especially among young people worried about their future in a country where freedoms are increasingly limited. It is a reaction that goes far beyond the imamoglu.

Imamoglu congratulated the demonstrations and declared in an article on X on Saturday that they aimed to protect democracy as an inspiration for the world.

Protest repression

Turkish police have repressed the demonstrators.

The officials said that 343 people had been arrested so far in the demonstrations, who have seen hundreds of thousands of people protesting the largest cities of Turkiys in a massive demonstration of challenge.

On Saturday, detention mandates were issued for 94 suspects accused of having published provocative calls to protest and create a public panic, said the Turkish news agency Anadolu cited the office of head prosecutors of Istanbul.

The police carried out simultaneous raids, holding 56 suspects and researching the 38 others, reported Anadolu, adding that the authorities also seized illegal drugs during the searches of the houses of the suspects.

The investigation against Mamoglu is part of a radical investigation involving 106 suspects on allegations of corruption and terrorism.