Journalist Can Ataklı investigated after saying Erdoğan 'won't go with an election'

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Prosecutors have opened an investigation against journalist Can Ataklı for "inciting the public to enmity and hatred" due to his comments about President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

After Ataklı published a video titled, "Erdoğan won't go with an election" on his YouTube channel on Saturday (January 2), he was targeted by pro-government media outlets and social media accounts.

"It doesn't seem possible to me anymore that Erdoğan will leave power with an election," he says in the video. "What does 'He won't leave power with an election' mean? Will there be a coup? I'm one of those who see the possibility of a coup the least likely. There is no ability to make a coup in today's circumstances."

He rather suggests that Erdoğan might leave power because of "great public anger," "great natural disasters" or a "military failure," adding that he wouldn't want a coup or a military failure, which would be "bad for the country."

Yet a one-minute excerpt from the 14-minute video was circulated on social media and the journalist was accused of "implying a coup."

After a criminal complaint by the "Fraternity Association," the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation against him, the pro-government daily Sabah reported.

Along with Ataklı, İlker Başbuğ, the former head of the General Staff, was also accused by the pro-government media and social media accounts over his remarks in an interview with the Cumhuriyet newspaper, which was published yesterday. He said in the interview that the 1960 coup might not have happened if the then prime minister declared an early election.

"Implying a coup" has been a go-to accusation against journalists, politicians and other public figures since the 2016 coup attempt, with their remarks usually being taken out of context and circulated on social media. 

Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the İstanbul head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), was also accused of calling for a coup and investigated last year for saying, the government would leave power "after a snap election or another way." (EKN/VK)