While former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is under investigation for “insulting the President” over his speech on September 11, 2021, it has also emerged that former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım filed a compensation lawsuit over remarks made in the same speech. Davutoğlu was summoned to give a statement last week. According to Hürriyet columnist Abdulkadir Selvi, Yıldırım sought 150 thousand lira in non-pecuniary damages on June 9, 2022, over Davutoğlu’s statement, “I would have added billions to my billions, like the prime minister who came after me.” On March 29, 2023, the Ankara 23rd Civil Court of First Instance ordered Davutoğlu to pay Yıldırım 20 thousand lira.
Why it matters
The fact that the same political speech has been the subject of both a criminal investigation and a non-pecuniary damages lawsuit shows that Davutoğlu’s remarks have been assessed in two separate legal proceedings. The civil court’s decision to award part of the amount sought means that Yıldırım’s claim that his personal rights were violated was accepted at least in part. This shows that the political dispute between the former prime ministers did not remain confined to public debate but was also taken to court. The proceedings raise questions in particular about where politicians’ insinuations concerning one another’s assets stand between freedom of expression and personal rights. However, the available information does not state whether the compensation ruling has become final or how the criminal investigation will conclude.
Background
Davutoğlu is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: in the past 90 days, we published 2 news reports mentioning this name, the latest dated September 13, 2026.