Turkish economist says detained by Istanbul police

A prominent Turkish economist said Sunday he was detained by Istanbul police as part of an investigation into whether he insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on social media.

Mustafa Sonmez, who has previously criticised the government over its policies, said on Twitter that he was detained at around 3am (0000 GMT), but released a few hours later.

Sonmez said the authorities accused him of insulting the president after he shared a video of Besiktas football club fans celebrating in a bar shouting "in your honour Tayyip (Erdogan)" with beers raised.

Besiktas beat Istanbul's Basaksehir -- which is owned by businessmen reputedly close to Erdogan -- on Saturday 2-1.

Sonmez was also accused of "provoking enmity and hate" in another tweet on Saturday after he wrote: "How wonderful, on March 31, you beat the AKP (Erdogan's ruling party); on April 13, you beat the AKP's football team, Basaksehir. Glorious Allah (God) gives and gives."

The Islamic-rooted AKP suffered a blow in local ...