Erdoğan sues Kılıçdaroğlu for ‘attack on personal rights,’ demands 250,000 TL

ANKARA

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed a lawsuit against main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu over an alleged “attack on personal rights,” for a speech the latter gave in a parliamentary group meeting. 

Erdoğan demanded 250,000 Turkish liras in compensation from Kılıçdaroğlu over his remarks during the CHP group meeting on Jan. 7.

Before the complaint, the president had blasted Kılıçdaroğlu for a speech he delivered to neighborhood heads (muhtars) in Ankara, during which the CHP chair had accused Erdoğan of “abetting terrorist organizations.”

“If you can prove that the [ruling] Justice and Development Party [AKP] has supported the DAESH, then I will resign from this post,” he said, using the Arabic synonym for the Islamic State of the Iraq and Levant (ISIL).
Kılıçdaroğlu on Jan. 6 accused the president of aiding terrorist organizations in Syria, including the ISIL.

“You [Erdoğan] are aiding and abetting terrorist organizations. Why aren’t you filing a complaint against me for saying this?” he said, criticizing the president for repeatedly suing him for his comments.

Following Kılıçdaroğlu’s comments, CHP lawmaker Mahmut Tanal filed a criminal complaint against Erdoğan for “abetting terrorist organizations,” on Jan. 8.

Erdoğan’s lawsuit is the latest in a string of complaints that the President’s lawyers have filed against Kılıçdaroğlu for “attacking personal rights.” The last suit was announced on Jan. 12, to the tune of 150,000 Turkish Liras.

On Jan. 8, Erdoğan’s lawyers filed a complaint against the CHP leader, arguing that Kılıçdaroğlu had used arguments used by the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), by referring to alleged phone conversation recordings between Erdoğan and his relatives.