Selçuk Bayraktar, the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Baykar Machine Company, where Bayraktar is an executive, have filed a lawsuit against journalist and economist Mustafa Sönmez over a social media post that he posted on October 23, 2019 and mentioned that the arms trade made the company rich. While Sönmez faces 100 thousand Turkish Lira (TRY) in damages, the trial will be heard by the İstanbul 18th Civil Court of First Instance (November 10).
The court concluded that Sönmez’s post was within freedom of expression and thought and that the conditions for non-pecuniary damages did not arise and dismissed the lawsuit (April 1).