Turkish man briefly detained for ‘insulting’ Erdoğan’s daughter
ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency
The 30-year-old civil engineer, identified as Osman Ç., was detained in the southern province of Antalya and brought to Istanbul by the police on Aug. 27.
It was not immediately clear which of his tweets were subject to the investigation, but the man admitted in his testimony that he insulted Sümeyye Erdoğan.
"I was a bit drunk. I saw news stories about martyrs on Twitter. I saw tweets about Sümeyye Erdoğan and her father. I was influenced by them. I regret for what I did," he told the police, referring to security forces who were recently killed in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attacks.
A prosecutor interrogated the suspect and asked the court to arrest him. The court, however, released the man on condition of going to a police center every day until the final ruling is issued.
Osman Ç., who is banned from leaving Turkey during the trial, can be jailed for up to two years.
Since he was elected president in August 2014, Erdoğan has sued scores of people including politicians, journalists, cartoonists, teenagers and even a former Miss Turkey, over what he described as “insults” targeting him or his family members.