Turkish prosecutors have issued a detention warrant for journalist and author Ahmet Nesin, who has been living in exile since 2016, on accusations of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a recent YouTube program, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into Nesin, 67, and issued a detention warrant for him on the grounds that he used words and expressions in a video on his YouTube channel on December 27 that constitute the crime of insulting the president, which is punishable under the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).
In the video, Nesin criticized strip-searches conducted inappropriately in Turkish prisons and detention centers, a claim widely denied by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). He said there is an immense and widespread fear among members of the AKP government, particularly Erdoğan, who he said are increasing the number of security measures and personnel around them because they are afraid the course of events in the country could turn against them.
Nesin said Erdoğan is so afraid of being targeted in an attack in public that he probably cannot even go to a bathroom when he is out until his bodyguards check it for bombs. The author also said if Erdoğan is removed from power, he and his companions will be given a fair trial and will not be subjected to strip-searches.
“You will all be tried,” Nesin said.
Critics accuse Erdoğan of establishing one-man rule in the country by stifling dissent and arresting dissidents. They say Erdoğan’s increasingly centralized rule has eroded democratic institutions and limited political freedoms as well as emptying the state coffers and creating economic hardship for millions of Turks.
Nesin welcomed the news about the detention warrant with a joke on the social media platform X as he held a doll resembling Erdoğan. He said a detention warrant had been issued for him for insulting Erdoğan, but for now it was he who had caught him (Erdoğan) and he had him in custody.
“… welcome the new year in peace,” Nesin said.
Erdoğan'a hakaretten hakkımda gözaltı ve yakalama kararı çıkmış ama şimdilik ben onu yakaladım ve kendileri gözaltındadır, yeni yıla rahat girin pic.twitter.com/1JsOuXqFl4
— Ahmet Nesin (@ahmetnesin1) December 31, 2024
In Turkey, thousands of people are investigated, prosecuted or convicted on charges of insulting the president on the basis of the controversial Article 299 of the TCK. The crime carries up to four years in prison, a sentence that can be increased if the act was committed using mass media.
Nesin, who is the son of prominent late Turkish author and journalist Aziz Nesin, left Turkey in 2016 and has been living in self-imposed exile in France ever since. He was among several rights activists and journalists who were detained in June 2016 on charges of disseminating “terrorist propaganda” for participating in a solidarity campaign in support of the now-closed Özgür Gündem, a pro-Kurdish publication subject to multiple investigations and lawsuits. Nesin was released after 11 days in prison.
Nesin wrote columns for the Artı Gerçek news website between 2017 and 2022. He uses his YouTube channel as a platform to continue to practice journalism from abroad.
Turkey was ranked 158th of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.