The Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into journalist Ahmet Altan for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Altan was a guest on a TV program on Sept. 2, coming after Turkish police conducted raids on the İpek Media Group in a government backed operation on Sept. 1. Altan criticized the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and President Erdoğan on the program. Pro-government media outlets reported Altan's criticisms as being threats against Erdogan. The prosecutor's office used the news reports by the pro-government media as as justification for the complaint by Erdogan's lawyers and launched an investigation against the journalist for insulting the president, the government, and guiding people into hate and hostility. "The president violated the Constitution. Erdoğan forcibly broke the framework of the law. They [AK Party] do not want [to hear] any opposing voices," Altan had said in the TV program. Altan also referred to Erdoğan's previous remarks in which he said Turkey's government has been already changed into a de facto presidential system, and called for a constitutional framework to "finalize" this transition. "What does it mean to say that the system changed, de facto? Somebody please explain the legal framework of that to me. Changing the system is a crime, it is a coup," Altan had said.
