Historian Süleyman Yeşilyurt, who was arrested on May 12 on charges of insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, was released by an İstanbul court at the first hearing of his trial on Thursday.
In early May, an arrest warrant was issued for Yeşilyurt on charges of “insulting the memory of Atatürk” and “inciting the people to hatred and hostility.”
He surrendered himself to the Bakırköy Courthouse in İstanbul where he was subsequently jailed.
İstanbul public prosecutor Ertuğrul Sarıyar on May 11 had an arrest warrant issued for Yeşilyurt due to a comment made on a TV program that had triggered outrage from politicians, writers, historians and social media users.
Yeşilyurt, a guest on the “Derin Tarih” (Deep History) show on private broadcaster TVnet, claimed on May 6 that one of Atatürk’s foster children, Afet İnan, was actually his illegitimate wife.
