Woman Insulting Ataturk At His Memorial Tomb Arrested

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Safiye İnci, a 23-year-old woman, who was previously taken into custody for insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, in a video that she captured in front of Anıtkabir (the memorial tomb of Atatürk) in the capital city of Ankara to send to a friend, has been arrested.

Ankara Criminal Court of Peace on Duty ruled that İnci shall be arrested for violating the Law no. 5816 on Offences Committed Against Atatürk.

The Law no. 5816 stipulates that "a person who openly insults or curses the memory of Atatürk shall be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison."

What happened?

In the video that she captured, Safiye İnci said, "I am very ashamed that I have come here (Anıtkabir). I have come here because they have insisted so much. I do not like Atatürk at all. Atatürk did not save Turkey anyway. You know, there are those Atarükists who do not love Tayyip [President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]... Atatürk cannot even be the shit of Tayyip."

After this video quickly spread on social media, İnci posted another video for apology and said that she made the video in question as a response to a friend of hers who does not respect her views. İnci added that after she sent the video to her friend, her friend shared it on social media.

İnci stated that if she did not respect Atatürk, she would not have gone to Anıtkabir in the first place, expressing regret for her previous statements.

As part of the investigation launched by Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against her, İnci was taken into custody on July 21. (EKN/SD)