Erdogan sues opposition figure who once called for commemoration of the Armenian Genocide

(Panorama) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sues Canan Kaftancıoglu, the newly elected Istanbul chair of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) over an alleged “propaganda terrorism and insulting the president”. Local sources report that Erdogan demanded 700,000 ($184.500 USD) Turkish Liras in compensation from Kaftancıoglu over the claim that she “propagandized for the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and DHKP-C (Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front)” in her tweets.

Speaking at the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip, Erdoğan said Kaftancıoglu disrespected the Turkish nation and carried out propaganda in previous posts on her official Twitter account, which he said speak for themselves. Erdogan, in particular, refereed to the 2012 tweet by Kaftancıoglu for commemorating those who lost their lives in the Armenian Genocide.

Commenting on the Twitter posts, Erdogan said, “She disgraced our nation and history by saying Armenian genocide. She says that the state is not a murderer but a serial killer. She accused the state for those who were killed during terrorist activities. She conducted propaganda in her posts during the Gezi incidents.”

Canan Kaftancıoğlu was elected as the Istanbul provincial chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) early on Jan. 14, becoming the first woman to be elected to the post.

Kaftancıoğlu has been a member of various non-governmental organizations since her university years and is among the founders of Collective Memory Platform.

Her father-in-law Ümit Kaftancıoğlu, a TV producer, writer and columnist of daily Cumhuriyet, was killed on April 11, 1980 in a gun attack in front of his house by suspected ultra-nationalists.