CHP head files criminal complaint against Interior Minister over insults

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has filed a criminal complaint against Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu over “threatening and insulting remarks.”

Kılıçdaroğlu’s lawyer Celal Çelik announced the legal action against Soylu through his Twitter account on Dec. 11, stating that his client seeks 100,000 Turkish Liras in compensation.

In a public address over the weekend, Soylu had slammed Kılıçdaroğlu saying: “I speak openly: Kılıçdaroğlu, you are finished.”

Soylu’s attack mainly focused on Kılıçdaroğlu’s allegations that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s family members transferred millions of euros to a bank based on the tax haven Isle of Man. The minister accused the CHP leader of being a dishonorable man and a liar.

CHP spokesman Bülent Tezcan launched the initial counterattack, advising the minister to “get a medical report on his mental status” in a statement released on Dec. 10.

“The Interior Ministry is a state office in charge of the armed police and the gendarmerie forces. The public needs to know about the mental health status of the minister who controls these forces,” Tezcan said.

Describing Soylu’s rhetoric as “mafia-like discourse,” Tezcan vowed to struggle against his “provocative attitude.”