CHP spokesperson blasts criminal probe into comments on Erdoğan

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) spokesperson Bülent Tezcan has blasted criticisms over his earlier comments on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after the office of the presidency said it had taken legal action against his statement that Erdoğan is a “fascist dictator.”

“There is no democracy in Turkey. What we are saying is that the name of the regime in Turkey is a fascist dictatorship. The people should know the name of the regime and we will continue to say it to the people,” Tezcan said on Nov. 1 after the CHP’s Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting.

He was referred to the judicial authorities by the presidential office on Oct. 31 after his words made during a speech in Trakya on Oct. 30.

Erdoğan’s lawyer, Hüseyin Aydın, said on Oct. 31 that they had filed a criminal complaint to the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office charging Tezcan with “insulting the president.” The complaint has been accepted by the prosecutor’s office and a criminal investigation will now be opened.

On Nov. 1, Aydın also announced that Erdoğan had filed a criminal complaint demanding compensation from Tezcan.

“Tezcan’s comments exceeded the limits of freedom of expression and amount to insults. Of course there will be legal consequences for such comments, within the limits of the law. We are appealing to the law,” he said.