AKP Opponent former MP Emin Şirin Arrested
AKP Watch August 18th, 2007
Former member of parliment and deputy chair of opposition Young Party (Genç Parti), Emin Şirin has been arrested earlier today.
Şirin was a former AK Party MP and was the strongest opponent voice within the party. He criticized Erdogan over AKP’s hidden Islamic agenda and was forced to resign from AK Party.
After his resignation, Şirin joined opposition Young Party (Genç Parti) but failed to be re-elected for the next term in General Elections held on 22nd July 2007. Şirin lost his parliamentary immunity from prosecution last week since his term was over and immediately arrested afterwards.
It’s widely known that AKP has authoritarian tendencies and PM Erdogan does not hesitate to crush their political opponents. Earlier this week AKP has forced Doğan Media Group to fire the prominent AKP opponent Journalist Emin Çölaşan from his post in a widely circulated national newspaper, Hürriyet .
Also last month, a leading investigative author and journalist, Ergün Poyraz arrested because of his long time best seller books about Erdogan and AK Party.
AKP Watch will closely monitor free speech and freedom of press under authoritian pressure of AK Party rule in Turkey.
