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Erdogan threatens to sue Times of London for defamation

Following letter signed by actors, filmmakers slamming Turkish police for use of violence during protests in Taksim, prime minister suggests he would launch lawsuit against British daily

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Friday that he would launch a lawsuit against The Times of London for publishing a letter ad criticizing him for the violence used by the Turkish police during protests in Taksim, Hürriyet Daily News reported Friday.

 

“These are people who have rented out their minds," Erdogan said in Istanbul. "If they were sincere about democracy they would not act so immorally as to call a prime minister who was elected by receiving 50% of the vote a dictator."

 

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The Turkish prime minister added that those who signed the letter "are doing it because they do not know Turkey. The Times rents its page; this is their lack of morality."

 

The letter, whose signatories include Susan Sarandon, Ben Kingsley, David Lynch and Sean Penn, slammed the police's use of "untold brutal force" on protesters and accused Erdogan of disregarding the lives of five people who were killed in the protests.

 

The letter noted that Erdogan’s orders “led to the deaths of five innocent youths,” comparing the rallies organized by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the annual Nuremberg rallies organized by the Nazis.

 

“Only days after clearing Taksim Square and Gezi Park relying on untold brutal force, you held a meeting in Istanbul, reminiscent of the Nuremberg Rally, with total disregard for the five dead whose only crime was to oppose your dictatorial rule,” the letter said.

 

AKP spokesman Hüseyin Çelik said the letter was an expression of “arrogance,” accusing the signatories of “ignoring” the goings-on in Syria and in Egypt.

 

AP contributed to this report

 

 

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פרסום ראשון: 07.26.13, 20:25
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