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RECASTS with lawsuit also targeting opposition chief
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday sued the main opposition leader and Istanbul’s powerful mayor for allegedly slanderous remarks at a protest rally the day earlier, Anadolou news agency reported.
Filed on Friday, the two separate lawsuits targeted Ozgur Ozel, head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, also a top party official.
One accused Ozel of “publicly insulting the president” and “clearly committing a crime against the reputation and honour of the office of the presidency”.
And the second alleged Imamoglu had made “unfounded accusations including slander, that violated Erdogan’s rights” and had “acted with the aim of humiliating the president in front of the public”.
Each lawsuit claims one million Turkish lira ($30,000) in damages from the accused.
The legal action centres on remarks the pair allegedly made on Thursday at a demonstration in the Istanbul district of Esenyurt a day after police arrested its opposition mayor for alleged links to the banned Kurdish PKK militant group.
It was not immediately clear which remarks prompted the legal action but Ozer, who took over as CHP leader just a year ago, quickly hit back.
Erdogan “pretends to have been insulted without any insult being made, and tries to make himself the victim… as if it was not he who insulted and victimised Esenyurt” by arresting its mayor, he told reporters.
Imamoglu, who was elected as Istanbul mayor in 2019, is often portrayed as Erdogan’s biggest political rival and is widely expected to run in the 2028 presidential race.
He is seen as one of Turkey’s most popular politicians.
Two years ago, Imamoglu was sued for defamation after describing Istanbul election officials as “idiots” during the 2019 Istanbul mayoral election.
A court found him guilty, sentenced him to nearly three years in jail and barred him from politics for the duration of the sentence, prompting an international outcry.
Imamoglu has appealed while continuing to serve as mayor.
At the time, Erdogan insisted the case had nothing to do with him.
The 70-year-old Turkish leader launched his own political career in the 1990s by being elected as mayor of Istanbul.
str-hmw/rlp
