Turkish prosecutors open new probe into main opposition leader over remarks

Ankara’s chief public prosecutor opened a new investigation Sunday into opposition leader Özgür Özel for “insulting the president” and other offenses for remarks made after more opposition mayors were arrested, media reports said.

It was the latest in a series of legal probes targeting elected officials in the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) that began in earnest with the jailing of İstanbul’s popular Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in a corruption probe in March.

“The words spoken by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel at the press conference after the [party’s] executive committee meeting on July 5 amount to offenses that include insulting the president [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan], openly encouraging the commission of a crime and insulting and threatening public officials,” the prosecutor’s statement read.

It was not immediately clear which of his remarks had triggered the investigation, but he roundly condemned the early-morning arrests of three CHP mayors and one deputy mayor.

“Everyone will take their place in history,” he said.

“On one side, there are those who protect the ballot box, on the other side are those who surrender to [Erdoğan] and his fears,” he added, demanding respect for the voters.

“You are taking away their right to vote, you are taking away the mayors they elected, you are putting the future president in jail,” he said of İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s strongest challenger and CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential race.

In November, Erdoğan filed a complaint against Özel for “publicly insulting the president” and “committing a crime against the reputation and honor of the office of the presidency.”

Another lawsuit filed in February is challenging his role as CHP leader, probing allegations of vote-buying at a November 2023 party congress that elected him.

And last month, prosecutors opened another probe for allegedly insulting Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor and making “threats against the judiciary” at a rally.

Local media reports also said efforts were under way to lift Özel’s parliamentary immunity so he could face prison in another case of allegedly “insulting a public official.”

© Agence France-Presse