A Turkish court formally placed the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, under arrest as part of a graft investigation on Sunday, after a fourth night of mass protests caused great clashes with the riot police.
The legal team of the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu has said that they will appeal a judicial decision that formalized the arrest of the key opposition figure in an graft investigation, said one of the lawyers. AFP.
Separately, the court decided not to form its arrest in an investigation of “terror.” Imamogu’s arrest on Wednesday on both investigations has caused the worst disturbances of Türkiye in more than a decade.
“Without despair! Keep fighting!” He wrote the ChP party of the main opposition in X, denouncing it as “a political blow of Etat.”
The news occurred when the voters cast their vote in a Chp primary to appoint Imamoglu, the candidate of the 2028 presidential career party.
The planned vote for a long time was the event that triggered the arrest of Imamoglu, who is widely seen as the only politician capable of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He was arrested in relation to two probes that allege graft and “helping a terrorist organization,” accusations that he on Saturday said the police was “immoral and without foundation.”
The movement against him caused protests in Istanbul that since then extended to more than 55 of the 81 provinces of Turkiye, unleashing battles with the police, who arrested 323 people during the night, authorities said.
The surveys opened at 8 am (10 am PKT) with 5,600 polls in 81 cities.
The CHP said that the vote was open to all, not only to the members, with the hope of a massive support for Imamoglu.
“I invite our nation … at the polls. We are casting our vote to support President Ekrem: for democracy, justice and future,” said his wife, Dilek Kaya Imamoglu, in X, shortly after voting with his son Selim.
“We are not afraid and we will never give up.”
Rubber bullets, grenades
Previously, the leader of the opposition and chief of Chp Ozgur Ozel said that he and the mayor’s wife had allowed them to spend five minutes with Imamoglu after the prosecution ended his interrogation throughout the night, saying that he was in a good mood.
“He said that this process had led to a great awakening for Turkiye, so he was happy,” said Ozel, who participated in Istanbul’s protest on Saturday in more than half a million.
The riot police used rubber bullets, pepper spray and percussion grenades in Istanbul’s protesters, hardening their methods shortly after midnight (2 am pkt) and forcing those who could take refuge inside the City Council building, a town hall building, a AFP The correspondent said.
In the capital, Ankara, the riot police used a water canyon to delay protesters, while in the western coastal city of the Izmir police blocked a student march towards the local offices of the AKP ruling party.
“The dictators are cowards!” And “AKP, you will not silence us!” Read the banners of some protesters.
Night protests began shortly after Imamoglu were taken to the court to answer prosecutors’ questions in the two investigations.
The first interrogation began at 7:30 pm, ending around midnight, and the second begins shortly after, ending around 7:30 am, media reports and their legal team said.
The police established a strong security cordon around the court, where around 1,000 protesters were close to shouts of slogans, said an AFP correspondent.
Turkish Lira slides
On Saturday, the 53 -year -old mayor denied the charges against him, and told the Police that his arrest had caused damage not counted to the image of Turkiye, in a statement issued by the City Council.
“This process has not only harmed Turkiye’s international reputation, but has also destroyed the sense of justice and confidence in the economy,” he said.
The movement against him seriously harmed the lyre and caused chaos in Turkiye’s financial markets, with the Bist 100 reference index closing almost eight percent lower on Friday.
“We are here today to defend the candidate we voted for,” said Aykut Cenk, 30 years old AFP Out of the court, holding a Turkish flag. “We are not the enemy of the State, but what is happening is illegal.”
The riots have spread rapidly despite a prohibition of protest in the three largest cities in Turkiye and an Erdogan warning that the authorities would not tolerate the “street terror.”
