Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoganReuters

A Turkish truck driver has lodged a legal complaint against his own wife – for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, AFP reports, citing pro-government media in Turkey.

The 40-year-old man, identified as Ali D., married G.D. three years ago and warned his wife repeatedly not to curse at the president when he appeared on television, the Yeni Safak newspaper reported on its website.

But the wife defied his warning and challenged her husband, saying, "Record and lodge a complaint."

The man duly recorded his wife's "insults" as evidence for the case and lodged a complaint with Izmir prosecutors. It was not immediately clear if and when the case would go to trial, according to AFP.

"I kept on warning her, saying why are you doing this? Our president is a good person and did good things for Turkey," Ali D. was quoted as saying.

But he said his wife kept on insulting Erdogan or just changed the channel whenever the president appeared on television.

"Even if it is my father who swears against or insults the president, I would not forgive and I would complain," the husband added.

According to AFP, in return for the lawsuit, the 38-year-old wife has opened a case against her husband for divorce.

The Turkish president really does not need citizens suing each other for insulting him, as in recent years, Turkey has seen spiralling numbers of journalists, bloggers and ordinary people - even schoolchildren - being taken to court on charges of insulting Erdogan and other top officials.

Examples include a 17-year-old teen who was charged in December with "insulting" Erdogan on Facebook.

The boy, identified as F.E., was detained at his home in western Tekirdag province after someone called the police emergency line to complain about his Facebook posts.

In January, a Turkish philosophy professor was accused of insulting Erdogan in an article in which he accused the president of corruption and violating the constitution.

The professor claimed that he was not giving insult, but that Erdogan is "unable to distinguish strong criticism from an insult."

Even the former Miss Turkey has been unable to escape the Turkish president, and was last year prosecuted for social media posts deemed to be critical of Erdogan.

In addition to the insult charges, Erdogan has cracked down on local media as well. Last June, he filed a criminal complaint against a top daily newspaper and its editor for publishing images allegedly showing trucks belonging to the state intelligence service helping send weapons to rebels in Syria.