Turkey opposition leader Canan Kaftancioglu gets nearly 10 years in jail for insulting president

The court found Kaftancioglu guilty of insulting Recep Tayyip Erdogan in social media posts between 2012 and 2017

The Republican People’s Party said the sentences must be confirmed by an appeal court before she can be sent to prison

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Turkish opposition party leader Canan Kaftancioglu leaving court on Friday, surrounded by supporters. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:37pm, 6 Sep 2019Updated: 3:20am, 7 Sep 2019

The head of Turkey’s main opposition party in Istanbul was sentenced to nearly 10 years on Friday on a range of charges, including “terrorist propaganda” and insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The charges related mostly to tweets that Canan Kaftancioglu, of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), posted between 2012 and 2017.

“The decisions are not taken in the courts, but in the (presidential) palace,” she told hundreds of supporters outside the court after the judgment.

Kaftancioglu, a doctor by profession, played a key role in the shock victory of the CHP’s new Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, earlier this year – the first time Erdogan’s party had lost power in Turkey’s biggest city in 25 years.

“This trial is aimed at punishing Istanbul and those who helped the victory of the people of Istanbul. I will never give up my ideas and my convictions. They think they can scare us but we will continue to speak,” Kaftancioglu said.

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