President Erdoğan again sues Kılıçdaroğlu over ‘insult’

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once again sued main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on Jan. 12 over an alleged “attack on personal rights.”

Erdoğan demanded 150,000 Turkish Liras in compensation from Kılıçdaroğlu over his remarks about the Interior Ministry’s removal of the CHP’s Beşiktaş district mayor on Jan. 5.

Murat Hazinedar and two Beşiktaş municipal council members, Avni Sipahi and Çetin Kırışgil, were dismissed from their duties on Jan. 4 by the Interior Ministry.

Erdoğan recently sued Kılıçdaroğlu for “insulting the presidential office” in remarks referring an alleged phone conversation between Erdoğan and his son.

The president’s lawyer, Hüseyin Aydın, filed a letter of complaint against Kılıçdaroğlu on Jan. 8, saying the CHP leader voiced arguments “used by the Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ)” by referring to the alleged phone conversation recordings.

The latest complaint came after the CHP leader on Jan. 5 blasted Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) over the Interior Ministry’s order to dismiss Hazinedar.

On Dec. 8, 2017, Battal İlgezdi, the mayor of Istanbul’s Ataşehir district, was also dismissed by the Interior Ministry over corruption allegations.