Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
A new case has been opened against former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş on charges of insulting the president, days after the European Court of Human Rights upheld its ruling that he should be released.
A Turkish court has handed a four-year prison sentence to journalist Fatih Altaylı after he was convicted of threatening President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Altaylı, known for his popular YouTube programs, denies the charges and plans to appeal, after prosecutors accused him of physically threatening the president based on remarks he made on his channel. He was arrested on June 22 and appeared before the judge for the second time at this week’s hearing. He was sentenced to four years and two months in prison for threatening the president. The court ruled that judicial control would be insufficient and ordered that his detention continue. Altaylı threw the notes and files in his hand after hearing the decision and left the courtroom.
Inconsistencies continue to emerge in the Istanbul Municipality indictment, fuelling CHP attacks on the charge sheet and the notification to the Court of Cassation that there may be grounds to close the main opposition party.
Veteran Kurdish politician Ahmet Türk of the DEM Party has been acquitted of charges of promoting terrorist propaganda over a 2011 speech in Siirt, which had formed the legal basis for his replacement by a trustee as mayor of Mardin.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an operation targeting more than a dozen celebrities on charges of using narcotics or stimulants. All were released shortly after tests showed they had not used drugs.
Comedian Egemen Şimşek was arrested on charges of insulting religious values held by a segment of the public.Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into Şimşek over jokes about Moses and Jesus in his stand-up performance titled “Contrary Thoughts.”
The money laundering investigation into Can Holding has now expanded to the Ciner Group. The probe, which includes charges of fraud, money laundering, smuggling, and forming a criminal organization, now focuses on the $350 million sale of media outlets — including Habertürk, Show TV, and Bloomberg HT — from the Ciner Group to Can Holding. According to Sabah daily, the funds were allegedly transported in suitcases and deposited in banks as cash. Turgay Ciner, once among Turkey’s top taxpayers and currently residing abroad, is now the subject of an arrest warrant.
As the CHP-led Ankara municipality braces for a possible wave of prosecutions, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş has pressed for charges to be brought against former Mayor Melih Gökçek and his son, Osman Gökçek, an AKP deputy and owner of Beyaz TV.
No decision was reached at the second hearing of the case against two leaders of the top business group TÜSİAD for comments they made in speeches. In court, Orhan Turan, chair of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD), and Ömer Arif Aras, Chair of the High Advisory Council (YİK), denied the charges against them and requested acquittal.
Ahmet Sungur, the AKP mayor of Yahşihan in Kırıkkale, who was arrested on charges of extortion, has been removed from office.
Zafer Party Chair Ümit Özdağ's trial on charges of insulting the president has been postponed until Dec. 24.
Authorities seized Habertürk, Show TV and Bloomberg HT, along with 121 other companies tied to Can Holding, after the Küçükçekmece Chief Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for eight people, including owners Mehmet Şakir Can, Kemal Can, and Chairman of the Board Kenan Tekdağ. The suspects face charges of forming a criminal organization, smuggling, fraud, and money laundering.