An indictment against two executives of an influential business association charging them with disinformation was accepted by a court on Monday. Orhan Turan, chairman of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSIAD), and Ömer Aras, member of the association’s high advisory board, will appear before a court for the first hearing on May 20.
Two defendants face prison terms of up to five years, six months and fifteen days in prison over the charge, based on their remarks at a recent board meeting of TÜSIAD.
<br>The indictment says two men claimed a lack of legal guarantees in Türkiye in their speech and alleged a lack of public trust in the state. Prosecutors said defendants spoke about the legal cases (from the appointment of trustees to municipalities whose mayors were arrested to the arrest of suspects in terrorism cases) they were not familiar with and sought to incite the public and spread disinformation.<br>It also says Aras’ remarks, in particular, were directly relevant to public order and security of the country and aimed to disrupt public peace.<br><div class="custombox_infinite"></div> <br>Defendants also face another investigation on charges of attempting to influence the judiciary for their open criticism of ongoing investigations and criminal cases in a way that incites tensions.<br>Turan and Aras were briefly detained after a notorious TÜSIAD meeting last month. They were later released under judiciary control and banned from traveling abroad.<br>Their statements are interpreted as an intervention in politics, especially by the supporters of the government. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also lambasted the statements.<br>He said some businesses enjoyed huge profits under successive governments of his AK Party, yet they resorted to dirty opposition tactics. “We have no place for unlicensed politics or an unlicensed economy,” he told a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) last month, urging them to either form a political party or join the existing ones.<br><div class="custombox_infinite"></div> <br>He accused TÜSIAD of meddling in politics and undermining the government, noting it had "overstepped" and dismissed it as a remnant of the past that had thrived on economic privilege and political influence.<br>"We always supported small businesses and industrialists. We expanded investments and employment, which were controlled by a bunch of elites. Yet, we see some old habits die hard. They try to intervene in politics and the government. They don't accept that Türkiye has changed," Erdoğan said.<br>TÜSIAD, founded in the immediate aftermath of a covert coup in the 1970s, has faced accusations of acting together with coup leaders in the following decades, most notoriously during the 1997 coup. Critics say the business association belongs to the same mindset, justifying coups for democratically elected governments acting against their demands.<br><br><a href="https://news.google.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?oc=5">source</a>
