Istanbul mayor Imamoglu appears in court as protests sweep Turkish cities

By Ece Toksabay

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a potential challenger to longtime President Tayyip Erdogan, appeared in a Turkish court on Saturday for the first time since his detention on Wednesday for alleged corruption and terrorism.

Thousands of people gathered outside the Istanbul municipality building and the main courthouse, with hundreds of police stationed at both locations.

Police used tear gas and pepper spray pellets to disperse protesters near the municipality building, with the crowd hurling firecrackers and other objects at the police, who formed a line in front of an ancient aqueduct.

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.

According to documents seen by Reuters, Imamoglu, a key opposition figure, answered at least 70 questions in total during his police interrogation, denying all charges brought against him.

"I see today during my interrogation that I and my colleagues are faced with unimaginable accusations and slanders," Imamoglu said in his defence at a counter-terrorism police interrogation, one document showed.

"These slanders will bounce back after hitting the walls in the heart of our nation," Imamoglu said.

"It is imperative that our country be rid of this mentality as soon as possible, which thinks that it is entitled to do everything to protect (its) seat," Imamoglu said, in a veiled reference to Erdogan.

Imamoglu appeared in court late on Saturday, television channels reported. The court ruling whether to release him or jail him pending trial is expected in the early hours of Sunday.

The mayor's Republican People's Party (CHP), the main opposition, has condemned the detention as politically motivated and has urged supporters to demonstrate lawfully.

Imamoglu, 54, who leads Erdogan in some opinion polls, was due to be named the CHP's official presidential candidate within days.

The next election is set for 2028, but Erdogan has reached his two-term limit as president after having earlier served as prime minister. If he wishes to run again he must call an early election or change the constitution.

Erdogan, who has run the country for more than 22 years, accused the CHP of trying to "provoke our nation".

"They have been doing everything they can for four days to disturb the peace of the nation and polarise our people," Erdogan told a fast-breaking dinner of his AK Party's Istanbul branch.

"We will certainly not allow the CHP and its cronies to disrupt public order and disturb the peace of our people through provocations. We will not tolerate operations to be conducted or surgeries to be done on Turkey, or the building of new walls of discord between 85 million people through social engineering."

(Reporting by Mert Ozkan and Emin Caliskan; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Alison Williams)