23.06.2025 11:13
The statement of Fatih Altaylı, who was arrested and sent to prison as part of an investigation launched against him for the crime of "threatening the President," has emerged. In his statement, Altaylı said, "The videos have been edited in a way to create the perception that I was threatening the President, and they were staged and presented to the public."
In a video published on his own YouTube channel, Fatih Altaylı was claimed to have made threatening remarks targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leading to an investigation initiated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for the crime of "threatening the President." Altaylı was captured and taken into custody as part of the investigation, and after completing the necessary procedures, he was referred to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan for the charges against him, where he gave a statement to the prosecutor and was arrested by the Duty Magistrate's Court and sent to prison.
"I HAVE NO STATEMENT THAT WOULD CONSTITUTE A THREAT TO THE PRESIDENT"
Altaylı, who was sent to the Marmara Closed Prison in Silivri, was reached during his statement to the Magistrate's Court. In his statement, Altaylı said, "In the video in question, I expressed that the Turkish people can always adopt a critical attitude towards those who govern them, and that even during the sultans' era, sultans were criticized, with my intellectually curious identity regarding history. The same or similar things I have said have been repeated many times by scholars specializing in our recent history, such as Murat Bardakçı and Erhan Afyoncu. Here, I absolutely have no statement that would be interpreted as a threat to the President or create a perception of threat. There is not even an implication. I see that the event has been distorted by changing the integrity of meaning in this way, and that my statements aimed solely at providing information about history have been consciously portrayed as if I were threatening the President," he said.
"IT IS A VIDEO IN WHICH I PROVIDED HISTORICAL INFORMATION"
Continuing his statement, Altaylı said, "When the videos contained in the USB I submitted to the prosecutor's office are watched, the original video, which is about 3 minutes long, is the video in which I made my explanation and provided historical information. The other approximately 30-second short video is a video that has been edited to create a perception that I was threatening the President, and it was presented to the public. When the original video is watched, it will be clearly seen that I did not make a threatening speech regarding the President in the eyes of the public, and that the speech is entirely historical. I have never undergone any judicial investigation or prosecution regarding these accusations before. Here, I absolutely have no intention to threaten; I exercised my right to criticize President Erdoğan, whom I personally know; threatening is never something I do. It is clearly stated that a physical act is required for the crime to occur. Therefore, the material elements of the crime have not been formed solely based on my words," he stated.