The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into Sözcü TV presenter Serap Belovacıklı on a charge of “publicly degrading a section of the public” over a social media post. Belovacıklı’s lawyer Hüseyin Uğur Poyraz said the investigation had been opened under Article 216/2 of the Turkish Penal Code and that his client would give a statement to prosecutors on 14 October. Belovacıklı said she had responded to a social media user who insulted her and her family through her husband, Yeni Parti İzmir MP Ümit Özlale, and removed the post within an hour after deciding it was inappropriate. She said the post was not directed at the Turkish nation but at the person who insulted her. Her lawyer Poyraz also argued that Belovacıklı had responded to a user named Ömer Okumuş and had not insulted the public in her post. Belovacıklı said she would file a criminal complaint against the person who insulted her.
13 October 2026
BBC News Türkçe