Erdogan slams CHP for march against jailing of MP

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday criticised the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) over a protest march from Ankara to Istanbul after a party deputy got 25 years in prison for espionage.

CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu launched the long march on Thursday after Enis Berberoglu was sentenced to 25 years in prison over making secret information public for the purpose of political or military espionage.

"Calling on citizens to take to the streets by disregarding the constitution is neither for their own good nor for the good of the country," Erdogan said in his address to a Turkish Exporters Assembly meeting in Istanbul.

Erdogan said that Kilicdaroglu clearly violated Article 138 of the Constitution, which states that no organ, authority, office or individual might give orders or instructions to courts or judges relating to the exercise of judicial power, send them circulars, or make recommendations or suggestions.

"Article 138 does not just apply to politicians. It applies to everyone from A to Z, so don't be surprised if you are invited to some place by the judiciary tomorrow," he warned, calling on everyone, including non-governmental organisations, to respect the separation of powers, without which, Erdogan said "we cannot get anywhere".

Leaked footage case

Berberoglu was accused of leaking footage of trucks belonging to Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) to Can Dundar, the then editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet daily.

The footage showed MIT trucks being stopped by local gendarmerie in the southern province of Adana despite a national security law forbidding such a search.

The Interior Ministry later denied media reports the trucks were carrying arms to groups in northern Syria, saying that in fact they were transporting humanitarian aid to the Turkmen community in the war-torn country.

The court convicted Berberoglu of "making public information that must be kept confidential for state security …. for purposes of political or military espionage."