Historian arrested in Istanbul for ‘insulting Atatürk’

ISTANBUL

One of the two historians for whom arrest warrants were issued for insulting the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was arrested in Istanbul on May 12, Doğan News Agency has reported.

An Istanbul court ordered to arrest historian Süleyman Yeşilyurt on charges of “insulting the memory of Atatürk” and “inciting people to hatred and hostility.”

He surrendered himself to Istanbul’s Bakırköy courthouse after the arrest warrant was issued, denying that he had insulted Atatürk.

The Istanbul chief public prosecutor, Ertuğrul Sarıyar, had on May 11 issued arrest warrants for Yeşilyurt and Hasan Akar for their comments made on a TV program, which had triggered outrage from politicians, writers, historians, and social media users. 

An investigation was launched into Yeşilyurt for “insulting Atatürk’s memory” by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, while another investigation was launched into Akar for his comments on Atatürk’s mother. 

Yeşilyurt, the host of a TV show called “Derin Tarih” (Deep History) on private broadcaster TVnet, claimed on May 6 that one of Atatürk’s foster children, Afet İnan, was actually his illegitimate wife.

This was added to another controversial claim by Akar, who said “Atatürk was an illegitimate child.”

The order for Yeşilyurt and Akar to be detained was given to the police by the prosecutor’s office, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on May 9.

The suspects were not found at their addresses ,n a subsequent search by police.