Hasan Akar, a cleric from the Nur religious community, has been arrested on charges of insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, the Diken news website reported on Tuesday.
Akar, who was being sought by authorities for more than a month, turned himself in to the police on Tuesday morning.
An arrest warrant was issued for Akar, who made remarks such as the “piç [a derogatory term for an illegitimate child] who died in 1938” for Atatürk and insulted his mother by saying that she was working at a brothel according to the official records in Thessaloniki, Atatürk’s birthplace in Greece, in a social media message.
Akar is accused of insulting the memory of Atatürk and inciting the people to hatred and hostility. He will be tried at the Bakırköy 18th Penal Court of First Instance.