- ANKARA, Turkey: A ruling party officials says Turkey’s prime minister is withdrawing all lawsuits against political rivals and journalists in a show of goodwill following his electoral victory.
The move follows Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s promise during a victory speech that he would seek widespread consensus to draft a new constitution and urged mutual forgiveness for tense electoral campaigning.
Senior party official Huseyin Celik said Thursday Erdogan was reneging on lawsuits saying: “This is not the time to settle accounts, we are turning over a blank page.”
Erdogan has sued dozens of journalists and politicians for allegedly insulting him. Opponents say the lawsuits are intended to wear down adversaries and muzzle criticism.

