Two young men, who were detained on Thursday for sharing a message on a social media account threatening those who will vote against ‘executive presidency’ in a upcoming probable referendum, were released in Düzce province on Friday.
Following a warrant issued by the Düzce Public Prosecutor’s office for incitement of hatred and hostility, police had detained S.A. (19) and his high school friend G.E. (17) and searched their homes, where they seized two guns loaded with blanks. The two told police they photoshopped their picture, which was taken in another place, to an image of Anıtpark Square.
S.A. had shared a photo on his social media account that showed himself and G.E. holding guns. Under the photo he wrote: “We will be waiting in the streets for those who say ‘no’ to the presidential system just as we were on July 15.”
July 15 refers to a failed coup attempt last year. Upon a call from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, many people took to the streets to confront the coup plotters. A total of 240 people were killed while more than a thousand were injured during the coup attempt.
Due to criticism, S.A. removed the controversial photo and the message from his social media account.
In a similar development last month, a Turkish gang leader, Sedat Peker, declared his support for the transition to an executive presidency in Turkey while threatening those who are against holding a referendum to vote on the change in the country’s system of governance.
In a social media message Peker, who is a vocal supporter of President Erdoğan, vowed to vote “yes” for the changes to the constitution and said, “We will be waiting in the streets for those who take to the streets to prevent the referendum, just as we took to the streets on the night of the July 15 coup attempt.”
9 DETAINED FOR DISSEMINATING ISIL PROPAGANDA RELEASED
Meanwhile, nine people who were detained in the central province of Konya for disseminating the propaganda of the terrorist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from their social media accounts have been released. The suspects were detained in a police operation on Jan. 18. They were also accused of being in contact with ISIL militants in Syria and Iraq.
After their interrogation by counter-terrorism units, the suspects were referred to court, where they were released on probation on Friday. ISIL has carried out a series of deadly attacks in Turkey over the past years, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people.
