AKIPRESS.COM - Police in Turkey have arrested a 16-year-old student on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to local media.

He was arrested on Wednesday after criticising the ruling AK Party during a speech at a student protest in the central Anatolian city of Konya. The teenager could face up to four years in prison if found guilty.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu defended the arrest, saying the presidential office "needs to be shown respect". Turkey's penal code makes it a crime to insult the president.

The teenager's lawyers have appealed against the prosecution, which came after he read out a statement during a ceremony to commemorate the killing of a Turkish soldier by Islamists in the 1920s.

In a video broadcast by Dogan News Agency, the teenager read out a statement defending secularism and the principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic.

He slammed the ruling AK Party government and Erdogan personally over corruption allegations, as a crowd surrounding him chanted "everywhere is bribery, everywhere is corruption".

Erdogan portrayed a high-reaching corruption scandal that was initiated a year ago as a coup attempt orchestrated by his former ally U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen to undermine his rule.

The scandal posed one of the biggest challenges to Erdogan's 11-year-rule as prime minister, leading three members of his cabinet to quit and drawing international criticism for his response, tightening Internet controls and reassigning police, judges and prosecutors.

The teenager, who is being held in detention, has pleaded not guilty, Dogan News Agency said.