Fatih Altaylı's police statement revealed: Barış Terkoğlu explains

Fatih Altaylı's detention was prompted by remarks he made during a program in which he evaluated the results of a survey asking citizens, 'Do you approve of Erdoğan being President for life?'

Barış Terkoğlu revealed the statement Fatih Altaylı gave to the police—hours after a post by Chief Advisor to the President Oktay Saral stating 'Altaylı, the water is getting hot for you'—on his program on the YouTube channel 'Onlar'.

Here is the statement Fatih Altaylı gave during his police interrogation:

"The broadcast and sentences in question belong to me, but I have no intention of threatening or insulting the President. In a survey conducted by a research company, citizens were asked whether they approved of President Erdoğan serving as President for life, and seventy percent of the citizens stated whether they would approve of such a constitutional amendment.

In my commentary on this subject, I stated that the Turkish people have enjoyed and embraced being effective in state administration by voting since the Tanzimat era, and that they do not like to grant permission in advance for any individual to hold a high-level position in the state outside of their own will and control.

And as someone interested in history, I have expressed many times on television with expert scientists on our recent history, Erhan Afyoncu and Murat Bardakçı, that the Turkish people have always been able to adopt a critical stance against those who govern them, and that they even criticized the Sultans during Friday processions in the Ottoman era. I have discussed such examples with them. Frankly, it never even crossed my mind that a threat perception against the current President could be derived from this historical information.

I am not responsible for the fact that the event has been turned into this, and that my words, which were intended only to provide historical information, are being perceived as if I were threatening the President through a deliberate distortion. In my 45-year professional career, I have written countless newspaper columns and appeared on countless television programs in the last 30 years.

In none of these have I ever threatened any citizen, let alone the President. No lawsuit has even been filed against me for such an accusation. Here, too, I have no intention of threatening; it would never cross my mind to threaten or insult President Erdoğan, whom I know personally. I have always exercised my right to criticize, but threatening is something I have never done.

Regarding the accusation in question, in the prosecutor's referral document I saw, for Article 310/2 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) to be applied, there must be an actual insult. Even in this case, despite having no intention of threat or insult, this request by the prosecutor's office is unlawful and not in accordance with the law.

It should also be taken into account that my first sentence in the speech alleged to be a crime was 'The Turkish people love the ballot box'; this alone shows our belief in democracy and the intention behind our speech. Therefore, I request a decision of non-prosecution regarding me."

Altaylı, who will spend the night in detention, is expected to be brought before the prosecutor around 10 a.m. tomorrow.