State-run Anadolu Agency files lawsuit against İmamoğlu over manipulation accusations

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency has filed a compensation lawsuit against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu for accusing the agency of “manipulating” the May 14 presidential election results in favor of President Erdoğan.

Friday June 02 2023 02:59 pm

Duvar English

The state-run Anadolu Agency has filed a compensation lawsuit in the amount of 100,000 liras against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu over his statements on the night of May 14 presidential elections.

During the first round of the presidential elections, as Anadolu Agency was revealing data on the voting rates, İmamoğlu said that the agency was manipulating the results in favor of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The petition filed by Anadolu Agency lawyers to the prosecutor’s office argued that İmamoğlu had “shown Anadolu Agency as a target and attacked its reputation by explicitly insulting it and provoking people via unfounded allegations and posts.”

The petition said that after İmamoğlu’s statements, several posts including insults against Anadolu Agency were shared on social media and this caused immaterial damages.

On the election night, Sedat Doğan, an official of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) overseeing technology and cyber security, said on social media, “On our monitors, (Kemal) Kılıçdaroğlu was never winning.” Anadolu Agency’s lawyers also included this statement in their petition file.

On the night of the May 14 elections, as the voting process was continuing, İmamoğlu said in front of the cameras that the opposition’s presidential Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was leading in the race and accused the Anadolu Agency of “lying” and “manipulating” the results.