Erdogan files criminal complaint after Turkish MP calls him ‘fascist dictator’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan filed a criminal complaint against a prominent opposition lawmaker on Tuesday, after the deputy called him a fascist dictator.

The spokesman for the main opposition Republican People’s Party, Bulent Tezcan, attacked what he said was a “fearful atmosphere” in Turkey, Reuters reports.

Erdogan’s lawyer, Huseyin Aydin, said a legal petition had been filed with the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office “for the crime of insulting the president.” Criticizing local judicial authorities, Tezcan said on Monday in the western city of Tekirdag: “If you try to scare people and to create a fearful atmosphere… we will not be deterred.”

The comments appeared to be in defense of the local mayor, who was questioned by authorities this month after he reportedly called Erdogan a “dictator.”