Prosecutor launches probe against CHP official for ‘threatening’ Erdoğan

ANKARA

An Ankara prosecutor has launched a probe against a senior main opposition official for saying President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s policies may trigger a military coup similar to the one that happened during the tenure of former prime minister Adnan Menderes, who was executed by a military junta following the 1960 coup d’état.

In a televised interview, Engin Altay, deputy parliamentary group chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), slammed Erdoğan for “exploiting” religion for political purposes “just like Menderes.”

“[I hope] his end will not be like his [Menderes’],” Altay said.

Erdoğan’s lawyer, Hüseyin Aydın, filed a criminal complaint against Altay for threatening Erdoğan by likening a fate similar to that of Menderes’ and “using the same language” as the coup plotters 60 years ago.

Erdoğan, at the Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary group meeting on April 21, slammed Altay as an impudent person and said he is “never afraid of death.”

“Are you satisfied with the fate of Menderes? Because you were the ones who prepared that end [for him]. Are you reminding us of the same fate now?” he asked.

“Do not try in vain; we are ready for all of these,” Erdoğan said, recalling how the government foiled the coup attempt staged by FETÖ in July 2016. “We saw this on July 15 [2016] and we buried those who attempted this.”

Senior government members and AKP officials also slammed Altay for his remarks. Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu described Altay as ignorant and someone who does not believe in democracy and people. “Likening Menderes’ end to Erdoğan’s? Yours may be worse than we did on July 15,” he said.