Turkey was headed for a fourth straight night of protests late Saturday, as the biggest street unrest the country has seen in over a decade raged on over the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
As the crowds began massing outside Istanbul City Hall, a convoy carrying the 53-year-old mayor arrived at Caglayan court on the other side of the city, a spokesman for his administration said.
Outside the court, police had set up a tight security cordon with nearly 20 anti-riot vehicles on standby, while some 500 protesters stood nearby, chanting: “Shoulder to shoulder against fascism!” an AFP correspondent said.
Inside, Imamoglu — the chief rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — was to be questioned by prosecutors in two investigations, one alleging graft and a second for allegedly “helping a terrorist organisation”.