Özgür Özel assigns deputy: Reacts to 'Tawhid flag' arrest

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel spoke over the phone with the father of the young man who was arrested for punching a person carrying a 'Tawhid flag'. 

Stating that the arrest decision was wrong, Özel indicated that they are ready to provide legal support to the family. Özel assigned Istanbul Deputy Turan Taşkın Özer to visit Ege in prison.

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel spoke by phone with Zafer Akersoy, the father of Ege Akersoy, who was arrested for punching an individual carrying a Tawhid flag while returning from a pro-Palestine march in Istanbul.

Özel conveyed his best wishes to father Akersoy and received information about Ege's situation. 

ARREST DECISION IS WRONG

Stating that they find the arrest decision wrong, Özel expressed that they are ready to provide legal support to the family and that a deputy would visit Ege in prison as soon as possible.

Özel underlined that the future and right to education of Ege, who is a successful student, are above political debates. Özel emphasized that as the Republican People's Party, they never defend violence, but that the arrest made is also contrary to the law, and that they will follow the process until the end. 

On the other hand, Istanbul Deputy Turan Taşkın Özer was assigned to visit Ege in prison.

HIS STATEMENT HAD EMERGED

In his statement to the Prosecutor's Office, Akersoy stated that his father was a retired major and that he himself was raised with nationalist sentiments, saying the following:

"Following the recent actions taken against our country by Saudi Arabia by making an issue of our country's founding leader's photograph, and after the martyrdom of our 12 soldiers as a result of the recent terrorist attacks, while I was expecting a Turkish citizen to carry a Turkish flag, I addressed the person coming towards me carrying a green flag with Arabic writing on it, saying, 'Are you not a Turkish citizen? We are in sensitive times.'" 

News Source: 12punto