The prominent Turkish moderator Fatih Portakal is said to be responsible for “completely false and manipulative statements” on social media. This at least throws him president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in front of the moderator after criticism of the government ‘s dealings with the Corona crisis indicated. Erdogan’s lawyer Ahmet Özel has filed a lawsuit against Portakal, the state news agency Anadolu reported. The allegation is therefore insulting the president.
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According to Anadolu, the ad’s background is a tweet from the moderator on Monday evening, in which he ironically comments on a speech previously given by Erdogan. With the tweet, Portakal indicated that due to the corona crisis, Erdogan would soon also want to save citizens in the banks after he had already called for donations.
The banking supervisory authority BDDK said that it had also lodged a complaint against Portakal because the statements he made damaged the reputation of the bank.
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Hundreds of arrests for “provocative” Corona posts
Erdogan had appealed to his compatriots last week to donate to the economically disadvantaged because of the corona crisis. Erdogan’s lawyer Özel emphasized, according to Anadolu, that the donations are voluntary. In March, Erdogan presented an economic package equivalent to around 14 billion euros, which among other things will provide support to companies whose existence is threatened by the corona crisis.
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Portakal moderates Fox TV news. Erdogan had already reacted sharply to the moderator’s statements critical of the government in the past.
The Turkish government suppressed unpleasant news even before the corona pandemic. She is now continuing this course. According to the Turkish Ministry of the Interior, the authorities have arrested 410 people in recent weeks for allegedly “provocative” or “misleading” corona posts on social media. There are also several journalists among the detainees.
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