Over 52,000 people investigated for insulting Erdoğan, his government in 4 years

Turkish prosecutors launched over 52,000 investigations into individuals on allegations of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan or his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government between 2019 and 2022, the Birgün daily reported on Thursday, citing official data.

According to data from the Justice Ministry, 52,348 citizens were investigated on charges of insulting the president, which is a crime according to the controversial Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), or insulting the Turkish nation, state, republic or state institutions, which is outlined in Article 301.

The number of people investigated under Articles 299 and 301 of the TCK, which was 13,731 in 2019, 9,560 in 2020 and 12,304 in 2021, increased to 16,753 in 2022, according to the ministry statistics.

Birgün said that even though Erdoğan tried to portray himself as an “open-to-criticism politician” during his party’s election rally in western İzmir province on March 10, where he urged the attendees to “speak the truth to our faces,” official data indicate the opposite.

Only 1,716 insult cases were filed during the terms in office of the five presidents who preceded Erdoğan.

Turkish police and the judiciary have perceived even the most minor criticism of the president or his government as an insult in the last decade.

Thousands of people in Turkey are currently under investigation, and most of them are under the threat of imprisonment over alleged insults of Erdoğan or the AKP.

Whoever insults the president can face up to four years in prison, a sentence that can be increased if the crime was committed through the mass media. Any person who criticizes the government can be sentenced to up to two years.

The insult cases generally stem from social media posts shared by Erdoğan opponents.