Istanbul's jailed former mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, clashed with the presiding judge on Monday at the court outside the high security Silviri prison. 

The case is part of a sweeping corruption trial against the opposition CHP that could scupper any remaining hopes for Imamoglu to run for the Turkish presidency. 

Prosecutors are seeking a maximum jail term of in excess of 2,000 years, in a country that still uses consecutive rather than concurrent jail sentences.

Imamoglu was arrested and removed from office last March, prompting widespread protests in Turkey.

Why was there a clash in court? 

Imamoglu clashed with the judge as he was denied permission to speak on entering the courtroom and was told he would address the court last. He said the court should "respect the right of people to defend themselves." 

But the judge refused, prompting chants of "shame!" in support of the opposition leader from the viewing gantry.

When a defense lawyer asked why the order of witnesses had been leaked to a pro-government newspaper but not supplied to Imamoglu's legal team, the judge cleared the court and suspended the session. 

He said it would resume in the early afternoon. 

What happens next? 

Hearings in the case are scheduled to take place weekly, from Monday to Thursday. 

A total of more than 400 defendants linked to the Istanbul municipality are part of the vast case. 

Imamoglu is accused of leading a criminal organization for profit, involving tender-rigging and bribery.

He and his main opposition party deny the corruption charges, calling them a politically motivated bid by President Erdogan's ruling party to sideline its biggest threat. 

Can Erdogan run for a third term as president? 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, now 72, has effectively run Turkey for almost a quarter of a century. 

First, he served as prime minister for 11 years starting in 2003. Facing accusations of staying too long in the role, his party announced he would vacate the position.

However, he moved into the role of presidency in 2014, and altered Turkey's political system so that the bulk of the power rested with the head of state, rather than the prime minister as in the past. 

Presidential and parliamentary elections are not scheduled until 2028. However, with the term limit rules as they currently stand, Erodgan could only seek a third term if he held the vote early, likely in 2027. Observers believe this is the most likely scenario but theoretically he could also seek to change the rules on term limits or step aside. 

Opinion polls suggest that the CHP could currently pose a serious threat to the decades of control enjoyed by Erdogan's AKP, particularly if Imamoglu is able to oppose Erdogan in a presidential vote. 

However, this is already in doubt regardless of the outcome of the corruption trial. Imamoglu is facing a separate legal proceeding that seeks to challenge the validity of his university degree — only graduates are permitted to be president in Turkey.

Should Imamoglu be barred from running, the CHP's leader Ozgur Ozel is considered most likely to run for the presidency. 

Edited by: Wesley Dockery