Article Image

IPFS News Link • Turkey

Lira Tumbles After Turkish Politician Gets 10 Year Sentence For "Insulting" Erdogan

• https://www.zerohedge.com, by Tyler Durden

"A Turkish court convicted an opposition party branch leader Friday of engaging in terrorist propaganda and insulting Turkish government officials with a series of social media posts, a verdict the opposition immediately alleged was politically motivated," the Associated Press reports. Upon Friday's verdict Canan Kaftancioglu, head of the secular Republican People's Party Istanbul branch, received a whopping nine years and eight months prison sentence. 

The Turkish lira suddenly tumbled as soon as news of the verdict hit Turkish media and grabbed international headlines:

Kaftancioglu plans to appeal the sentence and won't see prison time until those appeals are complete. She was initially facing up to 17 years on an avalanche of charges including "insulting" the Turkish republic and Erdogan himself, as well as "making terrorist propaganda" and "inciting public enmity," according to state media. 

Her supporters say it's clearly a case driven by political "vengeance" after she helped deal a major blow to Erdogan in Istanbul's recent mayoral election, propelling her colleague Ekrem Imamoglu to an upset victory over ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) candidate and Erdogan pick, Binali Y?ld?r?m.


JonesPlantation