Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu was fined for defaming Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family over claims about international money transfers, Anadolu agency said.
Erdogan has dismissed the allegations by Kilicdaroglu, saying in November last year that his family “haven’t sent a dime abroad”.
Kilicdaroglu has since been ordered to pay Erdogan moral damages in several court cases, but Wednesday’s ruling ordering a 359,000 lira ($75,000) payment to the president and his close circle marked the largest sum yet.
Separately, authorities also launched an investigation into Kilicdaroglu after he posted a cartoon on social media in which Erdogan’s face was drawn onto several animals, with the caption “Land of Tayyip”, Anadolu said.
It said Erdogan had also filed a criminal complaint against Kilicdaroglu and 72 other CHP lawmakers who had shared the cartoon on social media, Reuters reported.
