Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a lawsuit against the editors of a Greek newspaper for an insulting headline, state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Monday morning. Erdogan’s lawyers filed the lawsuit against the editors of conservative daily ‘Dimokratia’ went to print last thursday with a headline, that Ankara described as “despicable.”
#BREAKING Ankara prosecutors launch investigation against Greek newspaper Dimokratia over despicable headline about Turkish president
— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) September 21, 2020
Both in Turkish and English, the newspaper wrote “f*ck you, Mr Erdogan” noting that this should be the response of Greece to Erdogan’s demands.
On Friday, Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned Greece’s envoy. Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the Foreign Ministry had a harsh response to Greek Ambassador Michael-Christos Diamessis for a vulgar headline in Greek newspaper, Demokratia, about Erdogan.
Cavusoglu told Anadolu Agency that it was natural for news outlets in both countries to criticize each other’s politicians — sometimes severely – but under the principle of freedom of the press, insults should not be evaluated this way.
The Greek Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the incident. “Freedom of expression and freedom of the Press are fully protected in Greece,” the ministry said in a statement adding “This fact does not negate the obligation to refrain from insulting the personality of any individual, particularly a foreign leader.”
“The use of offensive language is contrary to our country’s political culture and can only be condemned, the MFA concluded.
Also government spokesman Stelios Petsas condemned the headline tweeting in English:
Free speech and independence of the press are cherished by the Greek people and protected in our Constitution. This however, does not negate the responsibility to respect a foreign leader. Offensive language is contrary to our values and can only be condemned by the @govgr
— Stelios Petsas (@SteliosPetsas) September 19, 2020
summoning the Greek ambassador showed that “there is no democracy in Turkey,” newspaper “Dimokratia” wrote on Saturday. So far, there has been no reaction to the lawsuit news.
