Chief Competition in Turkey in Erdogan Imomoglu in the first court after arrest

Istanbul Mayor Imomoglu Screens, which is Turkey’s largest competitor, President Recep Tayip Erdogan, appeared in court for the first time after being arrested last month and was imprisoned for high security.

Imomoglu is kept on corruption and terrorism accusations, but appeared in a special court in Silirai prison in a separate case on Friday, who is accused of intimidating the chief prosecutor of Istanbul.

Turkey’s opposition has condemned Imamaglu’s arrest as “an attempt against our next president,” and his detention has caused the largest anti-Erdogan protests for more than a decade.

“I am here because I won the Istanbul election three times,” Imomoglu said in court.

“I am under arrest because I won against the concept” the one who wins Istanbul wins Turkey, “he added.

Imomoglu meant President Erdogan, who started a political career mayor of Turkey and has often used this phrase.

The crowds gathered outside the complex in support of the mayor of Istanbul, whose maintenance is widely regarded as politically motivated. The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly called on the Turkish authorities to abandon the allegations and immediately release it.

However, the Turkish government rejected claims against political intervention, insisting on the judicial system of the independent.

On Friday, the 53-year-old mayor collided with two hearings that take the risk of both a term of imprisonment and a ban on politics.

The first case that claims that the threats against Istanbul chief Akina Gurlek after the arrest of the district may be postponed until June.

Gurlek, a former Deputy Minister of Justice under Erdogan, was accused of the opposition of acting as a “mobile guillotine” for the president to orient his opponents in Istanbul.

No Friday case was related to arrest on March 19 on suspicion of criminal organization and extortion, but the prosecutor’s office is looking for a term in prison up to seven years and four months in the Gurlek case.

Imomoglu was also critical of the Turkish state television company TRT, which, he said, is funded by citizens’ taxes, and “should broadcast this hearing rather than report lies and slander me.”

His wife Dilek attended the hearing with one of their children and several deputies.

She has played a great role in protests that swept in Turkey after the arrest of Imomoglu, and further rallies are scheduled for the coming days and weeks.

Protests were accompanied by about 2000 arrests.

Over the past two days, the courts in Istanbul either released or released 185 people who participated in a demonstration against the mayor’s detention on Sarachans Square in Istanbul.

Two journalists who work in the pro-Postava newspapers were also released on a recognizance bail for the investigation of the sale of the television station.

One of the newspapers, Cumhuriyet, said their arrests were part of the mass intimidation plan and the government’s critics.

The opposition has accused prosecutors of orientation on elected officials of pursuit of any opposite votes before the national elections.

The presidential election should not in Turkey until 2028 and without changing the Constitution of Erdogan had no right to speak for another term.

However, it could also launch if the parliament caused an early election.