Social media users sentenced for insulting Merkel, Erdoğan says

ANKARA

AFP photo

Social media users who insulted German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been sentenced to two-and-a-half-year prison terms, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, while complaining that insults against him have been, however, appreciated by politicians in the country.“Look, insulting Merkel via social media resulted in two-and-a half-year sentences in Germany,” Erdoğan said, while addressing a crowd during a ceremony for the winners of a tender for advanced 4G technology, namely 4.5G.“The court finalized this very quickly,” Erdoğan said.“But when you look at our country, they [social media users] will act as they like, and they are appreciated by those in politics,” he said.He also blamed Turkish social media for ignoring positive developments in the country, including a project to carry water from Turkey to Turkish Cyprus via underwater pipelines, which the president said had been ignored by some circles.