İlber Ortaylı and Murat Bardakçı submit expert opinion in Fatih Altaylı's case

Journalist Fatih Altaylı, who was detained following targeting by Oktay Saral, chief advisor to AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and subsequently arrested and sent to Silivri Prison on charges of 'threatening the president,' will appear before a judge tomorrow.

An expert opinion by historians Murat Bardakçı and İlber Ortaylı, as well as legal scholar Prof. Dr. Köksal Bayraktar, has been added to the file of Altaylı, who has been in custody for 103 days. Altaylı will appear before the judge tomorrow in the No. 2 courtroom located at the Silivri Prison Campus.

According to Cumhuriyet columnist Barış Terkoğlu, the three individuals made the following assessments:

Historian Murat Bardakçı, Member of the Presidential Board of Culture and Arts Policies:

“In Ottoman history, there are examples of the killing of sultans. Five sultans who were deposed following Janissary uprisings were murdered. Furthermore, whether the death of a deposed sultan constitutes murder is still debated today. (…) I submit to your honorable court's discretion the conclusion that Fatih Altaylı, in the speech subject to the lawsuit, was attempting to explain his interpretation using the historical facts listed above regarding Ottoman history, while evaluating the results of the poll conducted.”

Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı, Faculty Member of Legal History at Galatasaray University:

“The phenomenon we call 'ha'l' (deposition) in Ottoman history begins with the deposition of Bayezid II by his son, the great commander Yavuz Selim Han. (…) The deposition of Genç Osman occurred in the same manner. (…) It is known that Mr. Altaylı is aware of these events. His statement is based on these. (…) Unlike a writer who speaks about ballot-box democracy or coups in Turkey, it is not possible for him to put forward very ambitious theses. It is already known that Fatih Altaylı does not hold such a view. He is entirely analyzing the past in this manner. It is clear that he believes in the democratic electoral mechanism. This is my opinion, which I submit with my respects to your Honorable Court.”

Prof. Dr. Köksal Bayraktar, Retired Faculty Member of Galatasaray University Faculty of Law:

“It is not an evil for the majority of the public in Turkey not to want a dictatorship. For the crime of threat to occur, there must be a statement indicating that an evil will be committed that would affect and impair an individual's will and ability to think.”

DEMAND FOR AT LEAST 5 YEARS IN PRISON

Fatih Altaylı, who has been in prison for approximately three and a half months, will appear before a judge tomorrow. An indictment was prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against Altaylı, who was arrested on June 22, demanding at least 5 years in prison on charges of “threatening the president.”

News Source: 12punto