ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The ongoing feud between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtas continued on Monday with Erdogan’s lawyer filing a criminal complaint against Demirtas for having “insulted” Erdogan in a recent speech.
Erdogan’s lawyer, Huseyin Aydin, saw it fit to issue the complaint after Demirtas gave a speech to a HDP party meeting on Saturday in which he said Erdogan “wants to be the caliphate of Islam,” before adding that, “thieves cannot be caliphs," Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reported.
The statements constituted an insult of the president which, according to Article 299 of the Turkish Penal code is a crime. The indictment also argued that Dermitas’ statement “cannot be defended legally as they amounted to statements beneath one’s dignity and honour.”
This is one of many hundreds of lawsuits Erdogan’s lawyers have made in response to what they call “insults” to the president.
However, just as this indictment against Demirtas was made, Erdogan’s own wife, Emine Erdogan was the subject of a criminal complaint for a remark she had made.
On Friday, Turkey’s first lady referred to the years before the rise to power of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) back in 2002 as a “wreck”.
“Now we are at a new crossroads. We have removed the 90-year wreck of Turkey. However, huge issues emerged under this wreck. We are now facing these problems,” she said according to Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.
This outraged the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) whose Istanbul deputy, Erden Erdem, said, according to Today’s Zaman, that the remark was an insult and affront to the Turkish Republic.
“The remarks of the suspect, who has no political duty or responsibility, is an open crime,” Erdem said.
Under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code it is illegal to insult Turkey, its government institutions or “Turkishness.”
Erdem also added that it was a ridiculous comment since the very post Mrs. Erdogan occupies was created by the very republic she dubbed a “wreck”.
Erdogan’s lawyer, Huseyin Aydin, saw it fit to issue the complaint after Demirtas gave a speech to a HDP party meeting on Saturday in which he said Erdogan “wants to be the caliphate of Islam,” before adding that, “thieves cannot be caliphs," Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reported.
The statements constituted an insult of the president which, according to Article 299 of the Turkish Penal code is a crime. The indictment also argued that Dermitas’ statement “cannot be defended legally as they amounted to statements beneath one’s dignity and honour.”
This is one of many hundreds of lawsuits Erdogan’s lawyers have made in response to what they call “insults” to the president.
However, just as this indictment against Demirtas was made, Erdogan’s own wife, Emine Erdogan was the subject of a criminal complaint for a remark she had made.
On Friday, Turkey’s first lady referred to the years before the rise to power of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) back in 2002 as a “wreck”.
“Now we are at a new crossroads. We have removed the 90-year wreck of Turkey. However, huge issues emerged under this wreck. We are now facing these problems,” she said according to Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.
This outraged the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) whose Istanbul deputy, Erden Erdem, said, according to Today’s Zaman, that the remark was an insult and affront to the Turkish Republic.
“The remarks of the suspect, who has no political duty or responsibility, is an open crime,” Erdem said.
Under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code it is illegal to insult Turkey, its government institutions or “Turkishness.”
Erdem also added that it was a ridiculous comment since the very post Mrs. Erdogan occupies was created by the very republic she dubbed a “wreck”.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment