Canan Kaftancioglu is a member of the left wing Republican People’s Party. She has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison for ‘insulting the president’ and ‘spreading terrorist propaganda’. The case against Kaftancioglu also accused her of inciting hatred and enmity based on tweets sent from her account between 2012 and 2017. She continues to resist Erdogan’s government and claims the charges brought against her are evidence of the President’s autocratic and restrictive regime.
Addressing hundreds of supporters after the court’s judgement, she said: “The decisions are not taken in the courts, but in the [presidential] palace.”
Crowds of supporters rallied outside the Istanbul courtroom and chanted: “Shoulder to shoulder against fascism.”
The tweets used by the prosecution against Kaftancioglu included one in which she criticised the death of a 14-year-old boy hit by a tear gas grenade during the mass “Gezi Park” protests of 2013.
Her tweets also criticised the response of Erdogan’s government to the 2016 coup attempt.
The imprisonment of Kaftancioglu comes after her party took Istanbul from Erdogan’s AK-Party in the June elections.
The shock result meant 25 years of AK rule had ended, although the party disputed the outcome claiming there were irregularities.
Republican People’s Party representatives believe the charging of Kaftancioglu is a retaliation to the election result.
Kaftancioglu said: “This trial is aimed at punishing Istanbul and those who helped the victory of the people of Istanbul.
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“I will never give up my ideas and my convictions. They think they can scare us but we will continue to speak.”
The man who shocked Erdogan in Istanbul, Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, has show support for his fellow party member.
He said: “Despite everything, our Turkey has judges who will make the right decision on this issue.
“Personally, I will support Canan until the end, as my provincial chairwoman and as my comrade.”
Erdogan has displayed aggressive tendencies on the world stage too. Despite being a NATO member, Turkey has accepted deliveries of Russian missiles.
It is a move that brings Erdogan closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin and therefore threatens NATO, as Russia could use the weapons to gain intelligence on NATO weaponry.
The Trump administration has called on Erdogan to ‘pick a side’ on the issue, with the Turkish President saying it is “unacceptable” that the US try to control Ankara’s arsenal.