The columnist was interviewed almost a week after an unknown attacker tried to shoot and kill Can Dundar, the editor-in-chief of the opposition Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, in front of a court house in Istanbul, according to media reports.
"Such incidents are a clear proof that all the nails, which earlier held together the democratic architecture in Turkey, are already rotten, and that its collapse is just a matter of time," Insel said.
He also pointed the finger at Erdogan, whose "political ambitions and projects turned the figure of the President into the main source of instability in Turkey."
Insel also berated Erdogan for being behind the resignation of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, which was announced on May 6.
"By insisting on the presidential system of ruling, Erdogan, who should be the main guarantor of the Constitution, in fact violated its provisions. This very fact is sufficient to recognize the depth of the crisis and the chaos that is currently in place in Turkey. Well, the fish rots from the head," Insel pointed out.
The assailant came up to Dundar when he was speaking with a journalist and fired at least two shots at him. Dundar managed to escape unharmed.
"You're a traitor!" — the shooter is said to have screamed during the incident, according to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News.
Police standing nearby immediately intervened and arrested the assailant. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, it was revealed that another reporter, Yagiz Senkal, was wounded during the incident.
