Minister Soylu previously said Cumhuriyet would be "hold accountable" for its report on General Çetin. 

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The Ankara Chief Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into Cumhuriyet newspaper's reports exiled mob boss Sedat Peker's claims about state-mafia relations in Turkey.

The newspaper's editor-in-chief Aykut Küçükkaya and its managing editor responsible for legal affairs Olcay Büyüktaş-Akça gave depositions yesterday (June 7) after a complaint by General Commander of Gendarmerie Arif Çetin. The journalists are charged with "insult and slander."

In the first one of his YouTube videos gripping the country since early May, Peker mentioned Çetin when explaining the alleged sexual assault and murder of Yeldana Kaharman, 18, by an MP of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Peker claimed that Çetin had helped cover up the incident that happened in March 2019.

Kaharman's death was recorded as suicide and the investigation was not reopened despite similar claims against the AKP's Tolga Ağar much before Peker's videos.

Kaharman of Kyrgyzstan was studying and working at a local TV station in Elazığ, eastern Turkey, the hometown of Ağar.

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After General Çetin refused Peker's claims, his photo with mob boss Selahattin Yılmaz surfaced. Cumhuriyet reported this as "The commander with the mob boss."

In another photo that surfaced, the general is seen with Galip Öztürk, a businessperson who had to leave the country after being convicted of incitement to murder.

After Cumhuriyet's report, Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu targeted the newspaper on Twitter, saying, "Turkey is not the old Turkey. You'll give an account of this before the law."

"Our report is based on a concrete fact"

Public Prosecutor Hafize Demir-Hamurcu sent a letter to the İstanbul Public Prosecutor's office with a "very urgent" code, demanding depositions of the journalists be taken.

The journalists said the photo they used was posted on social media and became public.

Küçükkaya said, "The title of our report, 'Commander with mob boss,' is based on a concrete fact, there is a photograph of it as well," noting that the photo was taken in front of the General Command of Gendarmerie.

"For this reason, [publishing the photo] can neither constitute the crime of insult nor slander, the profession of journalism has been fulfilled within the scope of the people's freedom of obtaining information," he said. "This is the only purpose of the publication of this news report."

Büyüktaş-Akça said it was clear that there was a public interest in publishing photos that were talked about by millions of people.

"The complainant is a public official. The Court of Cassation and the European Court of Human Rights have set provisions that public officials should tolerate heavy criticism," she said.

"Moreover, the relevant report does not include an element of insult and the photos were published by those who took them in the past.

"The only purpose here is to practice the profession of journalism within the scope of freedom of expression and the press, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. We don't accept the charges."

(HA/VK)