For the first time in Turkish history, a former prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, was summoned for criticizing the president and then he invited President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to his son’s wedding ceremony.
Davutoğlu, an AKP breakaway, who recently dissolved the Gelecek Party, gave a statement on Sept. 9 at the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office over an ex-officio investigation into 'insulting the president.' DEVA and Saadet Party chairs accompanied him to the courthouse.
The investigation stems from a 2021 speech Davutoğlu gave in Bingöl's Genç district, in which he said: 'I didn't eat a single cent of ill-gotten gain, unlike the ministers who came after me. I told them not to either. They did. They enriched those around them. [Erdoğan] made his son-in-law a minister. He enriched his relatives. He handed Turkey over to five contractors.' Social media posts reviving the remarks prompted the investigation.
Speaking to reporters after his testimony without taking questions, Davutoğlu called it a first in Turkish history — a former prime minister summoned as a suspect over remarks expressing criticism. He said he had declined all interview requests from Turkish and international media since the investigation opened and would continue to do so, saying the issue concerned his country's reputation, not his own. He said he stood behind his 2021 remarks.
Sözcü columnist İsmail Saymaz reported on X that Davutoğlu had invited President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to his son's wedding ceremony, scheduled for Sept. 13, and that the invitation predated the investigation.
