ANKARA: Former Deputy Arrested For Death Threats Against Erdogan

FORMER DEPUTY ARRESTED FOR DEATH THREATS AGAINST PRESIDENT ERDOGAN

Daily Sabah, Turkey
Dec 8 2014

Daily Sabah

ISTANBUL — Former deputy Feyzi Ýþbaþaran was arrested on Monday in
Istanbul due to death threats against President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan.

After his arrival from London, Ýþbaþaran was detained by police.

Police were informed on the whereabouts of the former deputy, setting
up a stakeout in front of a hotel he was staying in. As he was seen
exiting officers quickly took action arresting the former deputy. The
police have taken Ýþbaþaran to court where he will be tried.

Ýþbaþaran was arrested for sending death threats via Twitter to
President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan and his wife Emine Erdoðan. The former
deputy said that Erdoðan “definitely deserves death” as he was taken in
to custody at 06:00 a.m., along with numerous tweets insulting Erdoðan.

His tweets regarding Erdoðan were evaluated under the offense of
“publicly insulting the president.”

Ýþbaþaran had earlier threatened Armenian intellectual, Senior Advisor
to Turkish Prime Minister and Daily Sabah columnist Etyen Mahcupyan,
saying he is an “agent” and must be “taken down.”

“Armenians would want peace when he [Mahcupyan] is killed. He is not
Hrant!” Ýþbaþaran tweeted, giving reference to Hrant Dink, an Armenian
journalist whose murder in 2007 led to a public outcry. Ýþbaþaran
also insulted and threatened a disagreeing user on Twitter.

A lawyer attacked Ýþbaþaran while he was being brought to the court,
while another group protested against his threats.

Ýþbaþaran was a former deputy of the eastern province Elazýð for
governing Ak Party and center-right ANAP.

His bitter dispute with a police officer in 2009, including swears and
threats, were taped and sent to media outlets as well as to the prime
minister of the time, Recep Tayyip Erdoðan. He resigned from Ak Party
in 2009 after the party administration sent him to the disciplinary
committee for expulsion.

Prior to this incident, Ýþbaþaran claimed that there were “groups”
within the police, conspiring against each other and against the
government to start a dispute with the Turkish General Staff.