Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has filed a lawsuit for 500,000 Turkish liras ($13,000) in moral damages against Republican People's Party (CHP) chairman Ozgur Ozel over “unfounded” remarks against him, his lawyer said.
“Due to the inappropriate statements and irrational and unfounded accusations targeting our President made by CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel at the rally held in Beykoz on January 7, 2026, a lawsuit for 500,000TL in moral damages has been filed in the Ankara Civil Court,” Mr Erdogan's lawyer Huseyin Aydin said on X.
He added that a criminal complaint has been filed with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for “insulting the President”.
An official working for Mr Ozel confirmed the news to The National.
Mr Ozel reportedly criticised Mr Erdogan's relationship with US President Donald Trump at his party's rally in Beykoz on Tuesday, according to local media.
He said that “the Erdogan-Trump relationship is a danger for Turkey. Erdogan is seeking a future not for Turkey, but for himself, from Trump”.
AK Party deputy chairman and party spokesperson Omer Celik said, “Ozgur Ozel is producing the ugliest slanders in our political history. Mr Ozel's claim that our President is seeking legitimacy by negotiating with a foreign head of state or trying to obtain permission is the biggest lie in our political history".
Mr Celik, in a statement on his social media account, added that the statements of the CHP chairman "have once again gone beyond the political arena. Ozgur Ozel is not doing politics; he is working as a centre for producing slander. He breaks a record every day in his politics of lies.”
