The-then editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper Can Dündar and its responsible manager, Abbas Yalçın have been standing trial for “insulting the President of the Republic” by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of İstanbul. They are being tried due to the news article addressing the statement of PKK leaders Cemil Bayık, that is titled “Operasyonlar durursa, savaşı durdururuz (If the operations stop, we will stop the war)” published on August 11, 2015. The indictment has been accepted on February 10, 2016. Yalçın, facing up to four years and eight months in prison, demanded that the case should be dropped as the four-month trial period was exceeded.
The court decided to evaluate his defense in the trial adjourned until January 16 and the court decided to wait for the execution of arrest warrant against Dündar (5 December).