The Turkish prosecutor's office is seeking up to seven years and six months in prison for popular journalist and TV presenter Fatih Altaylı in a case involving insulting President Tayyip Erdogan. This was reported by the newspaper Sözcü.
Insulting the president is a criminal offense in Turkey.

Altaylı was detained in Istanbul at the end of June on the basis of a decision by the local prosecutor's office. The reason for his detention and subsequent arrest was his appearance on his YouTube channel, where he made critical remarks about Erdoğan, in particular saying that the Turkish leader intends to remain in power indefinitely. Altayli initially rejected the charges against him, saying that he had cited the results of a poll in which about 70% of Turkish voters opposed Erdogan's lifelong rule.

Altayli, 62, previously worked for some of Turkey's most prominent media outlets, including the newspapers Cumhuriyet and Hürriyet and the television channels Kanal D, Show TV, Atv, and Habertürk. In recent years, he has been hosting his own shows on YouTube.