Turkish prosecutors investigate Ahmet Davutoğlu over alleged insult to Erdoğan

Turkish prosecutors have opened an investigation into former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu over statements allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, according to Turkish media reports.

Prosecutors said remarks made by Davutoğlu and subsequently circulated on social media could constitute the offence of insulting the president under Turkish law.

In footage cited in connection with the investigation, Davutoğlu was seen speaking to a group of people and accusing Erdoğan’s government of corruption and favouritism.

“They piled billions upon their billions, plundered illicit gains and enriched their followers,” Davutoğlu said.

He also criticised Erdoğan over the appointment of his son-in-law to a ministerial position and accused the government of favouring a small group of major contractors. The allegations contained in Davutoğlu’s remarks were not independently substantiated in the report.

Davutoğlu was once a close political ally of Erdoğan. He served as Turkey’s foreign minister from 2009 to 2014 before becoming prime minister, a position he held until 2016, when differences between the two leaders led to his departure.

He later broke with Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and founded the Future Party (Gelecek Partisi) in 2019, subsequently cooperating with opposition parties.

Davutoğlu has recently criticized the structure of Turkish politics, arguing that the country’s political and party system has reached what he described as a “major impasse.”