On 3 September, the Turkish public prosecutor’s office announced the launch of an investigation into Ahmet Davutoğlu, former prime minister of Turkey and former member of the AKP party, and until recently leader of the now-dissolved Future Party, for allegedly making offensive remarks and insults against the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a statement broadcast in a video on social media.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the opening of an investigation into Ahmet Davutoğlu over statements posted on social media which, according to the public news channel TRT Haber, allegedly included insults and accusations against the President of the Republic.
“Following the investigation, proceedings have been initiated against Ahmet Davutoğlu, former leader of the now-dissolved Future Party (Gelecek Partisi), under Article 299/1 of the Turkish Penal Code, for the offence of ‘insulting the President of the Republic’. The investigation is being conducted meticulously within the framework of the relevant legislation,” the prosecutor’s office stated in a press release.
Davutoglu’s lawyer claims he learnt of the news through the media
Davutoğlu’s lawyer, Hasan Seymen, explained that “the subject of the investigation is part of the responses given by our esteemed (former) Prime Minister, in his capacity as leader of the Future Party and the last elected Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, to the accusations made in September 2021 in the Genç district of Bingöl by an individual who was clearly a provocateur”.
The lawyer also publicly expressed his displeasure at having learnt of the news through the media: “I regret to say that I learnt from the press, and not from the judicial authorities, of the investigation launched against our Prime Minister, who has served our country with honour, and this has caused me deep sadness regarding the rule of law in my country”, he said in statements reported by Turkish media.
“He appointed his son-in-law as a minister and enriched his relatives”
The video at the centre of the controversy was shared on social media and shows a visit to Bingöl – in south-eastern Türkiye – in September 2021, in which Davutoğlu is seen speaking angrily to a group gathered in a café and stating: “…I could have added billions to my billions, just like the ministers who came after me. I didn’t keep a single cent of illicit gains.”
“I told them: ‘Don’t eat illicit gains’. But they did. They enriched their inner circles. He appointed his son-in-law as minister. He enriched his relatives. He handed Turkey over to five contractors”, he adds in remarks that clearly refer to Erdoğan and his government during the period following Davutoğlu’s departure from Erdoğan’s party in 2019.
The former prime minister adds in the video: “If they had respected the rights of the nation and had not appropriated the property of orphans, I too would have respected their rights. But they violated the rights of the nation. That is why I told them what was right and just.”
According to the latest reports, former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu – aged 67, who also served as Turkey’s foreign minister and who, following the dissolution of his Future Party, has announced his retirement from politics – is due to give a statement as a suspect before a court at the Ankara Courthouse next Monday, 7 September, at 15:00 Turkish time.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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