Prosecutor launches investigation against Greek daily after Erdoğan’s criminal complaint

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s lawyers have filed a criminal complaint against those in charge of a Greek newspaper that made insulting headlines about Erdoğan, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Sept. 21.

In the criminal complaint filed by Erdoğan’s lawyer, Hüseyin Aydın, to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the author of the article on Greek newspaper Dimokratia, Manolis Kotakis, Managing Editors Andreas Kapsampelis and Yorgos Giatroudakis and Publishing Director Dimitris Rizoulis have been cited as “suspects.”

The statements used against Erdoğan in the Greek newspaper have been stated as to be one of the “ugliest manifestations of a dramatic moral collapse,” said the petition.

“The target of this despicable act is not only our president but also at the same time, the best interests of our nation, which our president firmly defends in the eastern Mediterranean and the Sea of Islands,” it said.

The petition pointed out that the Turkish judicial authorities are in charge and authorized in the crimes of insulting the president of the republic committed abroad.

“In the implementation of the criminal laws in terms of location, the ‘principle of property according to the victim’ is essential, but the ‘principle of personality according to the victim’ also finds application in some cases,” it said.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation against the Greek newspaper for its headline insulting Erdoğan.

The Chief Prosecutor’s Office decided to initiate the investigation against the newspaper’s officials for “insulting the president” in accordance with Articles 12, 13 and 299 of the Turkish Penal Code due to insulting headlines and news content against the Turkish president.

Justice minister sends a letter to his Greek counterpart Tsiaras

Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül has sent a letter to his Greek counterpart, Kostantinos Tsiaras, condemning the coverage of daily Dimokratia.

Gül addressed in his letter that he and the Turkish society have sadly observed the “ugly” headline of the newspaper operating in Greece.

“I strongly condemn and find this immoral and shameless act unacceptable that is presented under the guise of freedom of the press but is far from the objective of freedom of the press and in no way compatible with the peaceful intentions required by international law,” Gül said.

The minister voiced his expectation from his Greek counterpart to approach this “grave incident, which can never be accepted within the framework of universal law principles,” with sensitivity and that the necessary steps will be taken urgently by the Greek authorities.

He hopes that the bilateral collaboration against the “distorted mentality, which aims to destroy the relations between Turkey and Greece” will maintain without compromising law.