Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said April 22 he will ask Ankara to clarify a call to Turks in the Netherlands to report individuals who insult the Turkey or its president.
 

The country has been passing through such horrible days that perhaps it would be great to have humorists occupying governmental seats. Even if there might be a president acting as if he has become a sultan or emperor, no one of course can claim that the prime minister and other ministers have started acting like imperial jokesters.

Pro-government Turkish daily Ak?am has been sentenced to pay 6,000 Turkish Liras in compensation to former Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Umut Oran for publishing a manufactured story alleging an assassination plot against President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's daughter, Sümeyye Erdo?an, which they had claimed involved Oran, daily Cumhuriyet reported on April 20.

Four people were arrested in a probe into the financial links of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen sympathizers on April 20 before dozens of other detainees, including board member of a leading construction company, were sent to court with an arrest demand by prosecutors on April 21. 

Four people were arrested in a probe into the financial links of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen sympathizers on April 20 before another group of detainees, including board member of a leading construction company, were sent by police to a prosecutors to testify on April 21. 

Daily Hürriyet Editor-in-Chief Sedat Ergin has been awarded German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle's (DW) Freedom of Speech Award, which honors individuals who "exemplify human rights and free speech."

In his initial response, Ergin said he was "honored to receive the prize that stands for preservation of press freedom worldwide."

An Istanbul court sent nine suspects, reportedly former employees of Islamic lender Bank Asya, to court with demands for their arrest on April 20, while it released 18 others in a probe into the financial links of Fethullah Gülen sympathizers.

Some 17 other suspects were also sent to court with demands for legal control. 

The 2016 World Press Freedom Index prepared by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) saw Turkey decline by over six points compared to last year due to "systematic censoring" of the media in addition to a sharp rise in charges of "insulting the president" and loosely defined "terrorism."

BELGRADE - "The European Union needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the European Union," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proclaimed in a televised speech to municipal leaders in Ankara on Tuesday.

Over the next few weeks, there might be a radical reformatting of Turkish politics. On the one hand, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is pressing hard to achieve a miraculous wind in parliament and probably in the country to blow him to a higher, super president position by making a cosmetic or overall amendment in the constitution.