Prominent Turkish actor Levent Üzümcü was detained Thursday over a social media post, his lawyer said, hours after he accused Turkey’s leaders of incompetence.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that Üzümcü had been detained as part of an investigation involving his account on X. Authorities had not publicly disclosed the alleged offense or identified the specific post under investigation.
Üzümcü announced his detention in a post at 2:43 a.m. on Thursday, writing, “I am being detained.”
About 12 hours earlier, he had posted a sharply worded criticism of Turkey’s government.
“This country is being governed very badly by a deeply incompetent group,” Üzümcü wrote. “Either we will rid ourselves of these people who don’t know what they’re doing, or our descendants will curse us.”
His lawyer, Uğur Poyraz, said the detention concerned a post on X and that Üzümcü was being taken to Istanbul for questioning, despite the fact that the actor was detained in the western province of Balıkesir. Poyraz said he initially had not been informed of the legal grounds for the detention.
Üzümcü, 54, is a prominent theater, television and film actor who has frequently criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government. He is widely known in Turkey for his role in “Avrupa Yakası,” (The European Side), a popular sitcom that aired from 2004 to 2009.
Üzümcü previously faced disciplinary action over his political statements. Istanbul municipal authorities dismissed him from the city theater company in 2015 following proceedings connected to his support for the 2013 anti-government Gezi Park protests and remarks he made at a Socialist International meeting. He later challenged the decision in court and returned to the institution in 2020.
His detention came the same day authorities detained prominent mountaineer and former search-and-rescue organization leader Nasuh Mahruki in a separate investigation over a social media post concerning the July 15, 2016, coup attempt.
Prosecutors said Mahruki was being investigated on suspicion of inciting hatred or hostility.
