Turkish appeals court reverses judgments in three insult cases from PM Davutoğlu to CHP leader

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu speaks to his party's lawmakers at the Parliament, Dec. 2. AA Photo

The Supreme Court of Appeals has reversed three judgments that found main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu guilty over “insult” claims in favor of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

A local court in Ankara had ruled for Kılıçdaroğlu to pay compensation to Davutoğlu in three cases, on the grounds that the CHP head had attacked the prime minister’s personal rights by insulting him.

The Supreme Court of Appeals ruled for the reversal of the three judgments on the grounds that both of the individuals were politicians, and European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings have stated that “politicians need to bear hard, harsh and even offensive criticism.”

Kılıçdaroğlu had said on Oct. 9, 2012 that the then-Foreign Minister Davutoğlu was an “advanced idiot” for “misleading Turkey’s foreign policy.”

In addition, his remarks about Davutoğlu delivered to daily Milliyet on July 15, 2012 and his words at the CHP’s group meeting on Oct. 16, 2012, in which he said Davutoğlu was unable to understand the difference between Syria and Libya, had also been regarded as “insults” by the local Ankara court.

However, the Supreme Court ruled that these words were not insults, but should rather be considered criticism from one political figure to another.