 and conduct operations against two more CHP-run municipalities, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.){kind=link}
Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into pro-government journalist Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı after he claimed on social media that the government would soon take control of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and conduct operations against two more CHP-run municipalities, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Wednesday that Kütahyalı is being investigated for “publicly disseminating misleading information,” a crime under Article 217 of the Turkish Penal Code. A detention warrant was also issued for the journalist. He was briefly detained and released under judicial supervision later on Thursday.
Kütahyalı made the claims in a series of posts on X on Wednesday alleging that a court would cancel the results of the CHP’s 38th general congress, held in November 2023, at which Özgür Özel defeated long-time CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
He also said a government-appointed trustee would take over the party’s administration and suggested that police operations would be launched in the CHP-run Keçiören and Etimesgut districts of Ankara.
Kütahyalı made the allegations one day before a court in Ankara was to hear a lawsuit filed by the former CHP mayor of Hatay, Lütfü Savaş, along with some CHP delegates, for the cancellation of the results of the party congress in 2023. They claim that party delegates were bribed to vote at the congress. The CHP denies the allegation and any irregularities at the congress.
The first hearing was held at Ankara’s 42nd Civil Court of First Instance on Thursday, and proceedings were adjourned until May 26.
According to a statement by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the journalist cited “a security bureaucrat friend” who allegedly informed him of a planned police deployment from İstanbul to Ankara in anticipation of pre-dawn operations on the two CHP municipalities.
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç confirmed the investigation into Kütahyalı later on Wednesday, saying that “misleading and baseless claims” had been shared online about the annulment of the CHP congress and the appointment of a trustee to the party’s administration.
“The judicial process regarding lawsuits filed by some CHP delegates is ongoing and decisions are made independently by the courts,” Tunç wrote on X.
Following a backlash, Kütahyalı retracted his statements and posted another message: “Neither is the CHP congress being annulled, nor is a trustee being appointed. I was wrong, and I’m glad I was.” He also responded to Minister Tunç’s post, admitting, “Mr. Tunç is completely right. My prediction was entirely incorrect.”
The prosecutor’s office is continuing its investigation into the alleged irregularities at the November 2023 CHP congress.
To mitigate the legal and political risks stemming from allegations of irregularities, the CHP held an extraordinary congress on April 6, where Özel was re-elected as party leader.
The investigation into Kütahyalı comes amid intensifying pressure on the CHP since last year that culminated with the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu last month on corruption charges.
A central figure in the opposition, İmamoğlu rose to prominence after his landmark victory in the 2019 İstanbul mayoral election and was re-elected in 2024. His arrest took place on the same day his party nominated him as its candidate for the next presidential election scheduled for 2028. İmamoğlu is seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest political rival.
His detention on March 19 sparked the largest protests in Turkey since the anti-government Gezi Park demonstrations in 2013. Many critics view the charges as politically motivated.