Columnist Türköne Testifies In Court For Insulting President Erdoğan

Today's Zaman columnist Professor Mümtazer Türköne testified before a court in İstanbul on Tuesday on charges that he insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in an article that appeared in the Zaman daily on March 16, 2014.

After then-Prime Minister Erdoğan referred to Berkin Elvan and Burak Can Karamanoğlu -- both of whom died as a result of police action to anti-government protests in 2013 and 2014 -- in his local election campaigns, Türköne wrote, “The prime minister, who focuses his campaign on these deaths, seemed a more proper target for this accusation [of exploiting the deaths of people].

Berkin Elvan -- an Alevi boy of 14 who died on March 11, 2014, after nine months in a coma, the result of being struck in the head by a police tear gas canister during the Gezi Park protests of 2013 -- was declared a terrorist by Erdoğan during rallies before local elections on March 30, 2014. Erdoğan also described Burak Can Karamanoğlu -- a Sunni person who was killed during fighting in İstanbul's Okmeydanı neighborhood in March 12, 2014 -- as a martyr and a brother.

Many columnists have criticized Erdoğan for provoking people from Alevi and Sunni backgrounds.

After Erdoğan's lawyers submitted a complaint against Türköne last year, the Bakırköy Public Prosecutor's Office issued a verdict of non-prosecution. However, a penal court of peace in İstanbul revoked the decision and the case was brought by the Bakırköy 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance.

Speaking, after the first hearing, in front of the Bakırköy Courthouse, Türköne said that necrophilia is a psychiatric term not an insult. It was used against Erdoğan to criticize him for using deceased people to gain support in his election rallies, Türköne explained.

Criticizing the penal courts of peace as project courts of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, Türköne said that these courts function as if they were an organization affiliated with the presidential palace bodyguards, at the expense of the independence of the judiciary. “The penal courts of peace, a parallel system within the Turkish judicial system, are responsible for my trial today. Once Turkey gets rid of these courts, a sigh of relief will be heard in the judiciary,” Türköne said.

As he went to the Bakırköy Courthouse on Tuesday morning, Türköne was accompanied by the Zaman daily's Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Kamış, chief news editors Ali Akkuş and Fatih Uğur and columnist Sevgi Akarçeşme, as well as by the weekly news magazine Aksiyon's Editor in-Chief Bülent Korucu, and Cihan news agency General Manager Abdülhamit Bilici.

Dumanlı told reporters that there is systematic pressure on freedom of expression and media in Turkey, and that Türköne's trial is an example to this. Dumanlı added that, while pro-government media organizations are financially favored by state institutions who grant them access to advertisements, similar access is denied to media organizations that are critical of government.

According to Dumanlı, mechanisms of news correction, accreditation bans and court cases such as Türköne's are used to warn patrons against allowing their media outlets to carry news criticizing Erdoğan and the government. “When Turkey's judicial system returns to its normal state, all illegal interferences in the judiciary must be tried and punished,” Dumanlı added.

Stressing that Türköne is a leading political scientist as well as a columnist, Dumanlı said the appearance of himself and his colleagues is a show of support for Türköne and an act of public protest against the injustices committed by the government and Erdoğan. “Turkey will overcome these difficult days,” Dumanlı concluded.

The Bakırköy 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance adjourned Türköne's trial to Sept. 29, 2015, allowing Türköne's lawyers time to prepare their defense against the accusation.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)