Turkish opposition politician Canan Kaftancıoğlu on Monday told a court that a social media post for which she faces more than four years in prison contained no insult and was based on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s own remarks, Turkish media reported.
Kaftancıoğlu, a former İstanbul provincial chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), appeared for the second hearing of her trial at the İstanbul 53rd Criminal Court of First Instance.
The case stems from a post by Kaftancıoğlu on X in May 2025, in which she quoted Erdoğan as saying those who misuse public resources would be held accountable under the rule of law. Erdoğan made the remarks in reference to investigations and legal actions targeting CHP-run municipalities.
Kaftancıoğlu said Erdoğan’s statement applied to the government itself, adding, “The days when those who exploit public resources will be held accountable are near.” Prosecutors subsequently indicted her on charges of insulting the president.
Kaftancıoğlu told the court that the X account and the post were hers but denied that her words constituted an insult. She said she had quoted Erdoğan’s remarks verbatim and argued that if an intent to insult could be inferred from her post, the same reasoning would have to apply to Erdoğan’s original remarks.
In a final opinion presented at the hearing, the prosecutor sought a prison sentence between one year, two months and four years, eight months on charges of insulting the president.
The court adjourned the trial until December 10.
Kaftancıoğlu no longer has an official party position. In 2022 Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals upheld her convictions on several charges in a separate case and imposed a political ban.
Thousands of people in Turkey are investigated, prosecuted or convicted each year for insulting the president under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), an offense that carries a prison sentence of up to four years. Sentences can be increased by one-sixth if the offense is committed in public.
In 2014, when Erdoğan was first elected president, 132 people were prosecuted for insulting the president. Following Turkey’s transition to a presidential system in July 2018, the number of cases filed under Articles 299 and 301 rose steadily, reaching 59,780 in 2025.
The law has long been criticized by human rights and press freedom advocates, who say it is used to prosecute journalists, politicians and ordinary citizens for expressing views critical of the president or even satirizing him indirectly.
In 2021 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the law should be amended or repealed, stating that giving special protection to the president stifles public debate and chills dissent. International human rights organizations have also repeatedly urged the Turkish government to review the law, which they describe as incompatible with democratic norms and international free speech standards.
