 leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the Cumhuriyet daily reported on Wednesday.){kind=link}
Turkish YouTuber, Twitch streamer and podcaster Ahmet Sonuç, known online as Jahrein, has been ordered by a Turkish court to pay damages for insulting former main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the Cumhuriyet daily reported on Wednesday.
The Ankara 41st Civil Court of First Instance ordered Sonuç to pay TL 20,000 ($619) on the grounds that he insulted the former CHP leader in a tweet he posted on July 4, 2023.
Kılıçdaroğlu’s lawyer, Uğur Çelik, said during the hearing on Wednesday that Sonuç’s remarks targeting Kılıçdaroğlu in his tweets are filled with swear words and that the court should grant the politician non-pecuniary damages because of Sonuç’s persistent behavior of insulting the politician on various occasions.
The court’s decision was announced on X by Celal Çelik, another of Kılıçdaroğlu’s lawyers.
“We continue to hold (Jahrein) Ahmet Sonuç accountable for repeatedly making crude insults against our 7th Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu,” Çelik said.
7. Genel Başkanımız Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu'na, bir çok kez densizce hakaretler savuran (Jahrein) Ahmet Sonuç'tan hesap sormaya devam ediyoruz…
04.07.2023 tarihli paylaşımı nedeniyle açmış olduğumuz davalardan biri bugün sonuçlandı. 20.000 ₺ Tazminat kazandık. @kilicdarogluk
— Celal ÇELİK (@CelikBaskan06) March 27, 2024
Kılıçdaroğlu filed two lawsuits against Sonuç in July, seeking TL 500,000 ($15,493) in total in damages on allegations of “insult.” The former CHP leader demanded TL 200,000 ($6,197) for the remarks he used to criticize the politician, such as “leblebi kafalı” (roasted chickpea-brained) and “demans hastası” (dementia patient), and TL 300,000 ($9,295) in total for the expressions he used in four separate tweets, such as “şerefsiz” (dishonorable), “aptal” (stupid) and “yüzsüz” (shameless).
Sonuç’s criticism of Kılıçdaroğlu was mostly referring to his poor performance in the presidential runoff on May 28, 2023.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won the runoff election against a powerful opposition coalition that nominated the then-CHP leader as its presidential candidate, despite an economic crisis and anger over the response to February earthquakes that killed more than 53,000 people.
Erdoğan garnered 52.18 percent of the vote to Kılıçdaroğlu’s 47.82 percent.
Kılıçdaroğlu was voted out CHP leadership at a party congress in November, defeated by current CHP leader Özgür Özel.