Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu sued opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper for non-pecuniary damages of 1 million liras ($115,000), saying the publication has targeted him and infringed on his personal rights.
Cumhuriyet published 254 articles directly targeting Soylu in the past 52 days, the minister’s lawyer Uğur Kızılca said, Diken news website reported on Monday.
Soylu accused the newspaper in a Twitter post in May of cooperating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an autonomy-seeking armed group designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, after it published reports detailing relations between the Mafia and the state.
Sedat Peker, a Turkish mobster, has released a series of Youtube videos since the beginning of May, detailing the alleged involvement of government officials, including Soylu, in crimes such as drug use, sexual assault, and an unexplained death. Peker claimed that Soylu provided him with security and facilitated his exit from the country after warning him of his impending arrest.
The articles targeting Soylu’s personal rights bear no resemblance to reality, Kızılca said, according to Diken.
Ahval