Turkish court arrested a well-known journalist for allegedly making threats against Erdogan, NTV says

Prominent independent journalist Fatih Altayli was arrested by a Turkish court on Sunday for allegedly threatening President Tayyip Erdogan in remarks on his social media accounts, according to station NTV and others.

With over 1.5 million YouTube subscribers, Altayli was arrested on Saturday for remarks he made in a video he uploaded on Friday when he responded to a poll that indicated the majority of Turks were against Erdogan’s life in power.

According to Altayli, who cited Ottoman monarchs, Turks had “killed” or “drowned” those they no longer desired in positions of authority.

The comments subsequently “contained threats” against the president, according to Istanbul prosecutors, who opened an inquiry.

According to NTV, Altayli denied threatening Erdogan in his court defense, stating that his comments were misconstrued as threats despite them being merely a part of rhetorical historical discussions.

It follows a string of detentions of opposition leaders in recent months, including the March arrest of Erdogan’s principal political opponent, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. The crackdown has been described as a politicized attempt to crush Erdogan’s political rivals by the main opposition CHP and certain Western nations.

By arguing that Turkey’s courts and judiciary are autonomous, the government refutes these allegations.