Sawt Falasteen - Protest as judge quizzes Istanbul mayor in spy probe

The probe is the latest targeting Ekrem Imamoglu, the city's popular opposition mayor arrested in March as part of a corruption probe and kept behind bars ever since.

Government critics say Imamoglu's arrest was a political move. He is the main opposition CHP's candidate for the 2028 presidential race and considered the only contender capable of defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the ballot box.

He was brought to Caglayan courthouse in the late morning but did not begin testifying for another five hours, media reports said.

In a statement widely circulated in the Turkish press, Imamoglu denied the allegations against him.

"I have absolutely no knowledge of or connection with intelligence agencies or their employees," he said, describing the allegations against him as "absurd".

"I think I am facing a conspiracy theory. It would be more realistic to say that I burned Rome."

Necati Ozkan, his local election campaign manager was also called to testify as was Merdan Yanardag, editor-in-chief of the pro-opposition Tele1.

Yanardag was arrested on Friday and his TV channel seized by a government appointed trustee.

Outside the court, CHP leader Ozgul Ozel addressed a chanting, whistling and flag-waving crowd of around a thousand people as hundreds of riot police looked on.

"They called him a thief, it didn't work; they called him corrupt, it didn't work; they accused him of supporting terrorism, it didn't work," he said of Imamoglu.

"Now, as a last resort, they tried to call him a spy. Shame on them!" he roared as the crowd booed.

He also condemned the arrest of Yanardag and the takeover of his TV channel.

"Shame on those who prevent normal broadcasting and make them air documentaries.. We won't abandon Merdan Yanardag and the Tele1 staff. They cannot silence the free press!"

Among the crowd there was anger at the latest attempt to intimidate Imamoglu, who is already facing multiple legal investigations.

"This is not just an ordinary investigation; they opened this spying investigation as an excuse because they couldn't find anything else," said 50-year-old CHP supporter Ali Sacli.

"They are doing this to intimidate us and wear us down."

I.Matar--SF-PST