By
February 26, 2015 9:00 am - NewsBehavingBadly.com

[su_thin_right_skyscraper_ad]Imagine how filled the jails would be if we had laws like this in the United States.

A former Miss World contestant is among the latest targets of prosecution for allegedly insulting Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as a crackdown on criticism extends to individuals on social media.

Since Erdogan was elected president in August, 67 people have been charged with insulting him, about one case every three days, Diken news reported on Feb. 21. A prosecutor has requested more than four years in jail for Merve Buyuksarac, a model who was Miss Turkey in 2006, for a satirical poem she posted on the photo-sharing site Instagram, the official Anadolu Agency reported Tuesday, citing the indictment. A lawyer for Erdogan submitted a complaint about the 26 year-old model in November last year, it said…

Buyuksarac, the model, says she didn’t insult Erdogan and that she’s preparing with her lawyer to fight any charges.

“I didn’t insult the president – at that time he was prime minister, so it changes the case,” she said by text message. “I only shared the poem, which was shared by 960,000 people in Turkey, and which is also not an insult.”

…The poem was about a person boasting of getting away with theft for 11 years and was called “The Master’s Poem.” Erdogan’s supporters commonly refer to him as “The Master,” a reference to his remark that his third term as prime minister would be his “master phase.”

Erdogan has himself been jailed over a poem. He served four months in prison for reading an Islamic poem at a rally in southeast Turkey in 1998, after prosecutors said it challenged the nation’s secular order. Erdogan says his government has expanded freedoms since then.

Just click to “like” us on Facebook

[su_center_ad]

D.B. Hirsch
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

14 responses to Miss Turkey Could Get Jail For Insulting President

  1. illinoisboy1977 February 26th, 2015 at 10:45 am

    Just another example of why the United States of America is the greatest nation in the world. You can call your leader a “no good, dirty, rotten SOB” and it’s perfectly okay. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s a time-honored tradition in this country, to insult and castigate elected officials for their ineptitude and douchebaggery. You can say it and no one can do a darn thing about it!

    • rg9rts February 26th, 2015 at 11:19 am

      You can scream that he is a liar at a joint session of congress too

      • illinoisboy1977 February 26th, 2015 at 11:43 am

        That, actually, SHOULD get someone removed. Not because the speech itself is any kind of violation, but because there’s a certain level of decorum that should be maintained, within the chamber.

        • rg9rts February 26th, 2015 at 2:00 pm

          Decorum =gopee oxymoron

          • Spirit of America February 27th, 2015 at 5:58 am

            Decorum =gopee oxymoron
            &
            Decorum =dem oxymoron
            Decorum, civility, just plain old common courtesy is slipping by the way side on both sides…
            just recently Steny
            Hoyer called House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy a “coward” while on
            the house floor.
            For the general population, just visit any political blog/forum, left or right. A vast majority of replies to posts are 1 sentence insults to either the poster or the ‘other’ side. Actually see a discussion of the topic?… not a chance.

          • rg9rts February 27th, 2015 at 6:13 am

            I think the dems behavior is beyond reproach when compared with thew gopee…start with yelling liar at the SOTU…..conducting foreign policy by the house ….want more??

          • Spirit of America February 27th, 2015 at 7:43 am

            Of course you do, the dems are ‘your’ side… I see the same posts on the reps sites.

            But let’s take your 2 examples:

            reps – yelling liar at the SOTU
            dems – yelling coward at House Majority

            reps – conducting foreign policy by the house
            dems – conducting foreign policy by the house

            The reps ‘defend’ their appalling conduct by saying “when compared to the dems…”
            The dems ‘defend’ their appalling behavior by saying “when compared to the reps…”

            I say they and theirs looks pretty much the same to me. I say both are out of line. I don’t condone bad behavior because of someone else’s ‘worse’ bad behavior. If I’m playing basket ball I don’t let my teammates cheat some just because the other team cheats more. Just my view.

          • rg9rts February 27th, 2015 at 8:00 am

            Please enlighten me as to when the dems invited a foreign head of state to addres congress without the consent of the White House. we have almost daily examples of the wackos of the gopee making statements against the POTUS that would merit a visit from the SS if we made them… Maybe its time for you to clean your glasses.. no one is a saint but these loons have raise it to an art form of disrespect…When I was in the war they taught us to respect the rank if not the man.

          • Spirit of America February 27th, 2015 at 8:07 am

            “Please enlighten me as to when the dems invited a foreign head of state to addres congress without the consent of the White House.”

            They didn’t so far as I recall. But enlighten me when a gop speaker went against the publicly expressed wishes of the DOS & WH not to go visit a foreign head of state(a nation that was on the terror list btw) but did anyhow (and actually helped that head of state in their elections shortly there after). a dem speaker did just that.

            Bad behavior doesn’t have to be exactly the same… the argument that my friend killed by using only 2 shots is better than your friend that stabbed 20 times in their killing doesn’t hold water with me… both are murderers, both should be called out by everyone, not just the opposing side.
            And again, this is just my view, I feel wrong is wrong and call it out, regardless of ‘side’.

    • bluejayray February 26th, 2015 at 11:32 am

      If you commit slander or libel, you can be prosecuted. If you threaten an elected official, you can be arrested and prosecuted. I wish that there was more enforcement, personally.

      • illinoisboy1977 February 26th, 2015 at 11:37 am

        Slander and libel SHOULD be prosecuted, unless it’s against a public official and in a parodying or satirical manner.

  2. jybarz February 26th, 2015 at 10:45 am

    Please bring it to America so jails can be populated with republicans, teabaggers, rightwing Christians, rightwing nuts, Fox News liars who constantly disrespect President Obama!

  3. rg9rts February 26th, 2015 at 11:18 am

    If we had that here 99% of the gopee would be in jail where they belong

  4. NW10 February 26th, 2015 at 11:42 am

    Yet here in the US, right wing idiots whine about President Obama being a tyrant and a king.