Ankara Prosecutors Open Unprecedented 'Insulting the President' Probe Into Ex-PM Davutoğlu

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code ('insulting the president'), after a resurfaced video showed him telling villagers, while leading the now-dissolved opposition Future Party, that ministers who followed him had 'added billions to their billions, amassed ill-gotten gains and enriched their entourage,' and that the president had made his son-in-law a minister. The offense carries up to four years in prison. Davutoğlu — an AKP co-founder and Erdoğan's former chief strategist turned critic, whose Future Party announced its dissolution on July 30, 2026 — was later summoned for questioning, a step commentators called unprecedented for a former prime minister.