‘Terror propaganda’ probe opened into newly elected CHP Istanbul chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu

ISTANBUL

An investigation into “terror propaganda” has been opened into Canan Kaftancıoğlu, recently elected as the provincial chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP), Reuters reported on Jan. 14.

The probe centers on a number of social media posts that Kaftancıoğlu made in the past, prompting accusations that she “carried out propaganda” for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the far-leftist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front (DHKP-C). She is also accused of “insulting the president” and “demeaning the State of the Republic of Turkey.”

Kaftancıoğlu has rejected the accusations, saying she has always stood against terrorism.

“I am a doctor and a mother. As someone who has devoted my entire life to the struggle for human rights I have always condemned terrorism and terrorist organizations,” she wrote on Twitter after news of the investigation broke.

Canan Kaftancıoğlu was elected as the Istanbul provincial chair of the CHP early on Jan. 14, becoming the first woman to be elected to the post.

Kaftancıoğlu beat incumbent provincial chair Cemal Canpolat, receiving 328 votes to his 325 votes, in the congress held at the Bostancı Performance Center on the city’s Asian side.