Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sued for damages the "Gunluk Evrensel" (Daily Universal) newspaper and columnist Yucel Sarpdere because of the expressions in his article.

Sarpdere, in his article, had changed the words of a song "We walked these roads together," which Erdogan sings with the party members at various gatherings. Erdogan has demanded a total of 20,000 new Turkish liras (YTL- USD 15,000) in damages.

Erdogan's lawyer Fatih Sahin, in the petition handed to court, mentioned the article by Sarpdere titled, "They had walked those roads together," published on March 3, 2006.

Prime Minister sues one journalist after the other

The Prime Minister had recently sued Erbil Tusalp of the "Birgun" (One Day) newspaper for damages for criticizing the case brought against Professor Doctor Yucel Askin, the Chancellor of the Van Yuzuncu Yil University.

Prime Minister Erdogan is demanding 10,000 new Turkish liras (USD 7,500) for damages because of Tusalp's expressions published on December 24, 2005 in the newspaper.

Before Tusalp, Erdogan had sued the Cumhuriyet (Republic) newspaper and its writer Ilhan Selcuk for reporting on Republican People's Party's (CHP) Group Head Haluk Koc's criticism of Erdogan in the debates on property ownership. Erdogan demands a total of 40,000 new Turkish liras (USD 30,000) in damages.

"The article goes beyond the limits of tolerance"

Sarpdere, in his article, had criticised Erdogan's stance on the corruption allegations about Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan. Erdogan's lawyer argued that the article included heavy insults and added such insulting expressions "go beyond the limits of press freedom, tolerance and criticism, and constitute slander."

Sarpdere, in his article, had changed the words of the "We walked these roads together" song, which Erdogan sings together with the party members at various meetings. The new words accuse Erdogan with corruption. (EO/AD/EA/YE)