Erdogan accuses French researcher of 'inciting assassination'

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's lawyer has lodged a complaint against a former French diplomat accusing him of inciting an assassination of the Turkish leader, the state-run news agency reported yesterday.

The move follows comments by Philippe Moreau Defarges about the outcome of the April 16 referendum on controversial constitutional changes that will tighten the president's grip on power.

Defarges, now a senior fellow at the French Institute of International Relations, said all legal paths to challenge Erdogan had been shut off and that the only two options left were civil war or assassination.