‘KILL ERDOGAN’ BANNER PROMPTS INVESTIGATIONS

GENEVA Swiss and Turkish prosecutors announced separate investigations Monday after protesters hoisted a banner in Switzerland’s capital showing a gun pointed at an image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan next to the words, “Kill Erdogan.”

Bern prosecutors opened a probe for alleged “public provocation of crimes or violence,” police said. Officers collected evidence when the banner was raised during a peaceful protest outside the Swiss Parliament, but did not pull it down.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said prosecutors in Istanbul have launched a separate investigation.

The people responsible for the poster could face charges for crimes such as membership in a terror organization, insulting the president and promoting terrorist propaganda.

Istanbul prosecutors have instructed police to identify the demonstrators, alleging that groups including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, were involved. The party is banned in Turkey and considered a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.