Columnist faces probe

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into Cumhuriyet columnist Bekir Coşkun after the General Staff filed a complaint over a column he had written in which he likened Turkey’s generals to tame dogs, Anatolia news agency reported.

The army’s complaint claimed Coşkun had committed the offense of “insulting public employees over duties they carry out.” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had urged the military to sue Coşkun, a vocal opponent of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), on the grounds that he had insulted the generals.

The investigation was launched by a prosecutor in Istanbul, who asked his counterparts in Ankara to question Coşkun. The columnist’s lawyer visited the Ankara courthouse yesterday to obtain information about the procedures.