Turkish man arrested over comments critical of gov’t in street interview

A Turkish man has been arrested in the western province of İzmir after he criticized the government and questioned why people are voting for the ruling AKP.

Thursday March 24 2022 05:24 pm

Duvar English

A Turkish man was arrested in the western province of İzmir after he gave a street interview in which he criticized the government.

The man, only known by initials V.Y., also questioned why people are voting for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the street interview held on March 17.

He is facing charges of “insulting the President,” “inciting the people to hatred and hostility and humiliation,” and “creating fear and panic among the people,” Demirören News Agency reported on March 24.

Thousands have been charged and sentenced over the crime of "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the seven years since he moved from being prime minister to president.

In 2020, 31,297 investigations were launched in relation to the charge, 7,790 cases were filed and 3,325 resulted in convictions, according to Justice Ministry data. Those numbers were slightly lower than the previous year.

Since 2014, the year Erdoğan became president, 160,169 investigations were launched over insulting the president, 35,507 cases were filed and there were 12,881 convictions.

Topics Turkey İzmir Insulting the president street interview