Turkish President Erdoğan’s Precious (Feelings)

[Sam1]

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who, I’m legally required to state1, is not now and never has been employed as a Gollum impersonator, is doing a great job supporting the argument that the amount of power a leader has at his disposal is inversely related to his ability to tolerate “insults” or dissent.

At a September press conference, Erdoğan’s spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin claimed “there is a vibrant environment of debate in Turkey,” and said that it’s “never possible to consider insulting the presidential office within freedom of expression.” Although that statement is completely laughable, it was not a joke—Turkey does seriously crack down on “insults” to President Erdoğan, who, I repeat, is not one of the River-folk and has at no point been accused of murdering the hobbit Déagol.

And this is an ally?

https://popehat.com/2015/12/04/turkish-president-erdogans-precious-feelings/#wsa-inline-1

[Javaman]

1. "never possible to consider insulting the presidential office within freedom of expression"

Straight out of 1984