Turkish football star Hakan Sukur risks four years in jail for ‘insulting Erdogan’

Prosecutors have charged the country's most prolific goalscorer with posting tweets containing “insulting content" against the president and his son, the private Dogan news agency reported on Wednesday.

Hakan Sukur, a striker whose football career stretched from 1987-2007, is by far the most prolific goalscorer in the history of the Turkish national team, scoring 51 times in 112 appearances. Kerim Okten/EPAShow less

ANKARA // Turkey’s former international football star Hakan Sukur faces up to four years in jail after being charged with insulting president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in posts on Twitter.

Prosecutors have charged Sukur with posting tweets containing “insulting content against Mr President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his son”, the private Dogan news agency reported on Wednesday.

In his defence, Sukur, 44, said he did not intend to target the president in his posts, the content of which was not made clear.

But that was rejected by prosecutors, who claimed that the tweets were “clearly related” to Mr Erdogan, Dogan said.

If convicted, Sukur faces up to four years in jail, according to the charges. As the indictment has been approved, a first hearing is expected in the coming weeks.

Sukur, a striker whose football career stretched from 1987-2007, is by far the most prolific goalscorer in the history of the Turkish national team, scoring 51 times in 112 appearances.

He is also remembered for his electric performance in the 2002 World Cup, where Turkey registered its best ever performance of third place.

After football, the high-profile Sukur went into politics and in 2011 was elected an MP from Mr Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

But he resigned in 2013 after a vast corruption investigation that targeted Mr Erdogan and his inner circle, siding with the movement of the president’s arch-foe, the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.

Sukur had voiced objections to the government move to shut down schools run by Mr Gulen’s Hizmet movement.

The legal case against the former footballer is one of a string targeting journalists, bloggers and ordinary people over charges of insulting Mr Erdogan and other top officials.

Opponents say Mr Erdogan has become an increasingly polarising figure in Turkey since becoming president in 2014, showing zero tolerance for any criticism on social media or on the streets.

Sukur also responded through tweets to claims that he has moved to the United States, saying he went to California to work on his project of opening a sports academy and to learn English. It was not immediately clear if he will be present at the trial.

* Agence France-Presse