An example of the rule of law; Colonel Orkun!..

When retired Colonel Orkun Özeller criticized MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, the architect of the Imralı opening, he was detained on September 17 and arrested the same day on charges of "insulting a public official and inciting the public to hatred and hostility."

While he was at the Military Prison, he was taken to Silivri on October 2 without notifying his relatives or lawyers.

An indictment was prepared against him on October 10, and a prison sentence of 2 years and 3 months to 6 years and 6 months was requested.

On October 16, while this indictment was accepted, the first hearing was scheduled for November 12, along with the decision to continue Özeller's detention.

In other words, everything happened and was concluded in 23 days.

There is another dimension to the arguments between Özeller and MHP members.

Two MHP officials insulted and threatened Özeller with expressions such as, "Anything can happen to this rabid dog... Barking dog... Wherever he is, finding this bastard and silencing him with pleasure is child's play for us... The dishonorable words you used against the youth of the Idealist Hearths (Ülkü Ocakları) will certainly not go unanswered... The breath of the Grey Wolves is always on your neck... History is full of influence agents like you who try to carry out operations against the Nationalist Movement and eventually learn the lesson of 'how an operation is done' from us."

Özeller also applied to the Perşembe Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and filed a complaint against those individuals.

"Very Urgent"... But Their Statements Were Not Even Taken

What is the fate of this criminal complaint?

The Perşembe Chief Public Prosecutor's Office sent a letter to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Offices of the provinces where the individuals in question are located on September 18 to have their statements taken.

These Chief Public Prosecutor's Offices requested on September 29 that law enforcement units fulfill the instruction "very urgently" and take the statements of the individuals whose clear identities and addresses were specified.

However, although 35 days have passed since the letter from the Perşembe Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and 24 days have passed since the letter from the relevant Chief Public Prosecutor's Offices, those statements have not been taken.

How Did Özeller's "Crime" Become a Chain Offense?

Another development that was not dwelled upon much in the Orkun Özeller file occurred.

According to the indictment; it was decided that "an investigation was also initiated against Özeller by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, but since it was seen that this was related to similar posts, there was a legal benefit in merging it with the file in Istanbul."

However, the investigation in question was opened upon the complaint of MHP Leader Bahçeli again due to Özeller's "terrorist lover" expression on October 25, 2024, and it was concluded and finalized on December 10 with a decision of "no grounds for prosecution." In the decision, which frequently cited the jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation and the ECHR, it was emphasized that "the threshold of tolerance for criticism, even if rude and hurtful, should be higher for politicians known to the public compared to other individuals."

However, exactly 10 months later, the Prosecutor who made this decision sent a letter to the duty Magistrate Judge on September 17, the day Orkun Özeller was detained and arrested:

"Although a decision of no grounds for prosecution was made in line with freedom of expression and Court of Cassation jurisprudence after the suspect used the expression 'terrorist lover' regarding the complainant in his post dated 25/10/2024 on the social media platform named X, which he admitted belonged to him; considering that the suspect exceeded the limits of political criticism with his expressions towards the complainant, who is a public official due to being a political party leader, in his post on the same social media platform dated 13/09/2025, revealed his intent to insult and disparage, that the posts in question are in the nature of new evidence, and that when evaluated together with his last action, the suspect also acted with the intent to insult in his action on 25/10/2024, the crime of insulting a public official due to his duty should be evaluated within the scope of chain offense provisions; it is requested that the Decision of No Grounds for Prosecution be revoked."

The duty Magistrate Judge also revoked the "no grounds for prosecution" decision on the same day with an examination on the file without taking the statement of Özeller or his lawyer, saying, "The request is found to be appropriate."

Then, the same Prosecutor issued a "lack of jurisdiction" decision on September 22 and sent this investigation to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to be conducted together with the investigation in which Özeller was arrested. Istanbul also accepted the merger, and thus Özeller's "crime" became a chain offense!..

As for the principle of legal security; forget about it!..

A Suggestion for the New Judicial Package

This is the situation of Orkun Özeller.

What about Ergün Poyraz? He has been under arrest for 22 days on charges of "seizing personal data" because he shared a post regarding the house of Aydın Metropolitan Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu, who switched to the AKP, and he has been in the hospital since October 17. Thank God his consciousness has returned, but the ailment in his foot due to diabetes is progressing rapidly. It is unknown whether he will be able to attend the first hearing to be held on Friday or how his statement will be taken.

Who cares about health, the right to life!..

While Poyraz is in this situation, another piece of news came from Aydın yesterday.

Journalist Emin Aydın, who was tried on charges of "unauthorized use of personal data belonging to municipal personnel" after reporting that the concert organized by Mayor Çerçioğlu for the August 30 Victory Day remained empty and was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison, was arrested and sent to prison after this sentence was upheld.

Also yesterday; while the managers of BirGün Newspaper, who were tried on the allegation of "targeting persons who have taken part in the fight against terrorism and publicly insulting a public official due to their duty" because the name of Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akın Gürlek was mentioned in a news report, were acquitted of the crime of "targeting persons who have taken part in the fight against terrorism," they were sentenced to prison and fines for the "insult" charge.

Since the end of the rope has been completely lost, especially in the "insult" charge; how about putting a list of "untouchables" who will not be criticized in any way and whose names will not be mentioned in the news into the 11th judicial package that is expected?!

Müyesser YILDIZ

October 23, 2025