Sadık Yıldırım, believed to be close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was released by a court shortly after being detained for threatening on social media the police officer who had taken him into custody after finding drugs and guns in his car, local media reported on Tuesday.
On August 2, officers who searched Yıldırım’s car at a checkpoint in İzmir’s Bornova district found 50 grams of drugs, two rifles, three unregistered handguns, three registered handguns and a hand grenade.
Yıldırım, who has appeared on social media in photos with senior AKP members, including Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, threatened on social media the police officer who took him to the Bornova Police Department in İzmir after searching his car.
Sharing a photo of himself in handcuffs on Instagram, Yıldırım said: “Who’s the guy who detained me? … I’ll be out of here in an hour or two. Do whatever you want. Bring it on.”
A day after his brief detention on August 2, Yıldırım shared a photo of his hand with the name of the police officer who had detained him written on it, along with a note that said: “The shameless officer who tried to put me in my place, I’ll put an end to you now. You won’t be excused in private for the things you did in public, Tolga.”
Yıldırım, who was detained again on August 6 for threatening an officer on social media, was released by a court on Tuesday after spending 11 days in custody.
“I’ve been released, I’m in Ankara,” Yıldırım announced in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
Alpay Antmen, a lawyer and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker, questioned Yıldırım’s connection to the ruling AKP and the police, expressing support for the police officer threatened by Yıldırım.
“This person has photos with Süleyman Soylu, Binali Yıldırım, as well as the police chiefs working in Antalya and Ankara. … Who is this person and what is his relationship with the political power [AKP] and the police? We stand by our police officer, Tolga, who was doing his job [properly],” Antmen tweeted.