Earlier Metin Akpinar, a well-known comedian in
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, was accused of making "insulting" statements that alluded to
"If we do not reach this (democracy), like what happened to all forms of fascism
...a political system developed in Italy, symbolized by the Roman fasces-- thin reeds, each flimsy in itself but unbreakable when bound into a bundle. Its distinguishing philosophical feature is the Corporate State. The word is nowadays thrown around by all sorts of people who have no idea what they're talking about...
, the leader might be hung from his feet or maybe poisoned in the cellars or meet the same end as other leaders in the past," he reportedly said on television on Friday.
The Istanbul public prosecutor said on Sunday that Akpinar was being investigated over "insulting comments that targeted the
Akpinar, 77, and another
Akpinar had also claimed on opposition Halk TV that any leader who "turned to Russia except Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) left office" through coups. Ataturk was the founder of modern Turkey.
Turkey has witnessed three military coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980. In 1997, an army-led campaign forced the government to resign and then in July 2016, there was an attempted overthrow of Erdogan blamed on a US-based Moslem preacher.
Akpinar said democracy was the "only option to save Turkey from polarization".
Gezen, 75, was more direct in his remarks against Erdogan on the same program: "He tells the people ’know your place’. Look Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey..., you cannot test our patriotism. Know your place."
The investigation into the men came after the president said on Sunday: "They should be brought to account for this by the judiciary."
Erdogan hit out at the "so-called artists" during a speech in Istanbul. "We cannot leave this business without giving a response, they will pay the price."
Thousands of Turks including artists and journalists have been prosecuted in recent years over allegedly insulting Erdogan, although most have not been imprisoned.