The 66-year-old was arrested in a park in the resort town of Alanya, the newspaper Sözcü reports. At a remand hearing, he made clear his motive:
I have nowhere to live. I sleep in garbage heaps. That’s why I did it.
It is unclear what the man said. He is reported to have tried at least three times before, but this time the decision was made to remand him in custody.
Insulting the Turkish president is punishable by up to four years in prison. The law has been used much more widely, including against many opposition figures, since Turkey adopted a more presidential system under incumbent leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2018.