Turkey jails journalist Fatih Altayli for allegedly threatening Erdogan
Fatih Altayli, one of Turkey’s most popular journalists, was arrested over allegedly threatening Erdogan, sparking outrage from media groups.
ANKARA — Fatih Altayli, one of Turkey’s most popular journalists, remained behind bars for a third day on Monday after being jailed on charges of threatening President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Altayli, a longtime media executive who now analyzes current affairs on his YouTube channel, was detained Saturday over comments made in one of his videos and subsequently jailed by a Turkish court late Sunday for allegedly threatening the Turkish president.
Commenting on a poll indicating that more than 70% of the public opposes Erdogan’s lifelong rule, Altayli said the Turkish people value having power in their own hands, and the ability to change leadership rather than surrendering authority completely.
"The Turkish people love the ballot box,” Altayli said during the video released on Friday. “Even if they put their own father in office, they like to keep the option to change him,” he added in the video that has been viewed by more than 700,000 people.
