PM Sues Newspaper over Black Tape

In a statement, BirGün newspaper said PM Erdogan filed a lawsuit against them for defamation charges, asking for 100,000 Turkish liras as non-pecuniary damages.

BirGün, a daily newspaper critical to AKP government, published a photo of PM Erdogan depicting him with black tape on his mouth. Under the tape read "Güven, Mavioğlu, Mert, Şık, Temelkuran ve Türker will be writing in our newspaper soon", announcing the newspaper's upcoming columnists.

The statement said BirGün received a court notification statement yesterday. PM Erdogan's personal attorneys Ali Özkaya, Muammer Cemaloğlu and Burhanettin Sevencan prepared the lawsuit and sent it to an Ankara court.

"The plaintiff, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, complaint that he has been defamed by a photo appeared on BirGün newspaper with a black tape on his mouth and asked for 100.000 Turkish liras for non-pecuniary damages," the court notification said.

In November, the aforementioned front page spurred criticism on BirGün newspaper, which resulted with the resignation of the upcoming columnists. The newspaper made a public apology on the issue, saying that it was a communication "bummer".

On today's front page, BirGün newspaper announced the lawsuit with a picture of Erdogan with a dollar bill on his mouth. (AS)