Turkish Teen Arrested For Insulting President Erdogan

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A 16-year-old secondary school student has been arrested in central Turkey for “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by accusing him as well as his ruling party of corruption, a situation sparking angry criticism on Thursday from the opposition. MSN.com reports:

The boy, identified by his initials M.E.A., was believed to be a member of a leftist organisation, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

He delivered a speech on Wednesday in the central Anatolian city of Konya, a bastion of Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), in memory of a young secular teacher killed by Islamists in 1930, according to the newspaper.

The boy, who was arrested by police at school, is now facing up to four years in prison if convicted on the charge.

It was the latest controversial arrest in Turkey in recent weeks. Recent police raids on media outlets affiliated with Erdogan’s top foe, the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, sparked an angry exchange with the European Union, which said the arrests undermined media freedom.