Communications director demands 15,000 lira from social media user who called him a 'swine'
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Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun has demanded an apology and 15,000 lira (1,738 USD) from a social media user because of their "insulting posts."
The request was made in written form by Altun's attorney. The post subject to the lawsuit reads, "Which land do you want to buy at a bargain price now, you swine?"
Summoned to give a statement after a complaint by Altun, the social media user said, "I wrote it, the [Twitter] account is mine. The tweet I posted is not meant to be insulting."
The letter sent by Altun's attorney Yusuf Görgün to the suspect's attorney Efkan Bolaç says: "We demand the suspect first apologize to our client in written form and pay our attorney fees and court expenses amounting to 15,000 TL in total."
The prosecutor's office did not prepare an indictment and referred the file to "conciliation" as per article 253 of the Law on Criminal Procedure, noting that the criminal suspicion was evident.
Now, if the suspect meets Altun's demands and a "conciliation" is achieved, no cases will be filed. But if they reject the demands, Altun will be able to file a lawsuit for insult and compensation.
Altun's "good intentions"
In the petition demanding conciliation, Altun's attorney said that they would file a lawsuit and will demand compensation, which he said would possibly be much higher than 15,000 lira, considering precedents.
Execution proceedings for the minimum attorney's fee will also be started if conciliation is not achieved, according to the petition.
"The client, with all his good intentions, does not currently seek any further compensation on his behalf. We will be satisfied with our attorney's fees and expenses covered," says the petition.
"However, if an agreement is not reached, we are not bound by any of these amounts; we also request this point to be notified to the suspect of the file."
About Fahrettin AltunThe Presidency Communications Director since July 25, 2018. He was born in 1976 in Stuttgart, Germany. He graduated from İstanbul University Department of Sociology in 1998. He completed his master's degree at Mimar Sinan University's Department of Sociology, and his doctorate at İstanbul University in 2006 with a thesis entitled "Comparative Analysis of McLuhan and Baudrillard's Media Theories". He took part in the founding academic board of İstanbul Şehir University and was the founding coordinator of the Faculty of Communication. He headed the university's Department of Communication between 2008 and 2014. Between 2014 and 2018, he worked for the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), a pro-government think tank, as the deputy general coordinator and then the general coordinator. He was also the dean of the Faculty of Communication of İbn Haldun University. He worked as a pundit for the state-run broadcaster TRT and wrote a column in the pro-government daily Akşam. About the claims that he was receiving salaries from five different state institutions, he said his only other salary than that of the head of the Communications Directorate is the attendance fee he receives as a board member of Borsa İstanbul Stock Exchange. |
(AS/VK)