A Turkish court arrested prominent independent journalist Fatih Altayli over comments on his social media allegedly threatening President Tayyip Erdogan, broadcaster NTV and others reported on Sunday.
Fatih Altayli © TPR
A Turkish court arrested prominent independent journalist Fatih Altayli over comments on his social media allegedly threatening President Tayyip Erdogan, broadcaster NTV and others reported on Sunday.
Altayli, who has more than 1.5 million YouTube subscribers, was detained on Saturday over comments in a video he posted on Friday in which he addressed a poll showing most Turks opposed Erdogan ruling for life.
Altayli referenced Ottoman rulers, saying Turks had "killed" or "drowned" some they no longer wanted in power.
Prosecutors in Istanbul later said the remarks "contained threats" against the president and launched an investigation.
NTV said that in his defence to the court, Altayli denied threatening Erdogan, quoting him as saying that his remarks were taken out of context and made to appear like threats, even though they were simply part of rhetorical historical discussions.
The development comes amid a series of detentions of opposition figures in recent months, including the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu - Erdogan's main political rival - in March. The main opposition CHP and some Western countries have called the crackdown a politicised move to eliminate electoral challenges to Erdogan.
The government denies these claims, saying the judiciary and Turkey's courts are independent.
Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu
President Tayyip Erdogan said he believed ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan could overcome all obstacles and he would visit Baku on November 8, after tensions in recent weeks between the historic allies over regional and domestic policies.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he wanted to speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine, after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday.
Ankara rejected on Wednesday what it called the "prejudiced and unfair" stance of the European Union towards fundamental rights and the judiciary in Turkey, and regarding Cyprus, contained in the bloc's report on EU membership candidates.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.