On the grounds of the speeches that they made during the 5th Book Fair held in Balıkesir’s Edremit district on August 13-21, 2022, an investigation has been launched against Republican People’s Party (CHP) Mersin MP Ali Mahir Başarır, former CHP Balıkesir MP Mehmet Tüm, former CHP Vice İstanbul Provincial Chair Murat Akbaş, Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) Chair and MP Erkan Baş and journalist-writer Yavuz Selim Demirağ.
They were charged with “insulting the President of the Republic” (as per the Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code / TCK) and “inciting the public to enmity and hatred (as per the Article 216 of the TCK) over their remarks about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu. The AKP Edremit District Organization also applied to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and filed a criminal complaint against the speakers (August 26).