MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkish law enforcement has opened an investigation into Republican People’s Party leader‘s controversial speech directed against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported Monday.
On Saturday, Kemal Kilicdaroglu deemed the Turkish leader a "so-called dictator" after Turkish police had detained 27 out of over 1,000 academics for signing a petition against Ankara’s military operation targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
The probe was launched on charges of "openly insulting the president," the Anadolu news agency said.
The Turkish authorities previously prosecuted artists, media workers, as well as schoolchildren for anti-Erdogan remarks.
Turkey’s leader called those who signed the petition a fifth column for terrorists.
