The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government's intensive crackdowns and operations started right after the Gezi Park protests, which started in İstanbul's Taksim district on May 31, 2013 and spread across Turkey.
12 people lost their lives during and after the protests, and 7,959 people were injured, 59 of them heavily.
Journalists faced many attacks from June 2013, when the Gezi protests started, to September 2013. At least 153 journalists, including 10 foreign journalists, were battered and wounded with pepper gas and plastic bullets.
Journalists’ efforts to cover events were prevented. The photos and video recordings of a large number of journalists were deleted by force. 39 journalists were detained; three others were arrested and charged with a crimes during this period.
Many journalists who took a critical stand or refused to make news in line with the government’s agenda were sacked from their jobs through direct or indirect reasons. There are no net figures from public institutions like the state channel TRT nor the mainstream media as to the number of sacked journalists. However, Gezi is considered a milestone for the mass discharge of journalists.
The collective discharge of the journalists.
Evaluation by the TGS chair
Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) Press Labor Chair Faruk Eren, in his evaluation, said, “Though we don’t know how many journalists became unemployed after the Gezi resistance, a huge injustice has started since that date”.
“For instance, a lot of journalists were sacked from TRT just because of their tweets. A similar injustice occurred in pro-government media outlets.
“Nevertheless, the greatest injustice took place in the pro-Gülen media following the AKP-Gülen conflict. With trustee appointment to the Gülen community’s media, we estimate as many as 2,500 journalists were left unemployed.
“Nevertheless, the number of those who found work at different jobs or who could find the chance to practice their profession is unknown. Since most of the journalists are not organized, their employment status or whether they have started a new job cannot be known.
“But we know that the journalists who became unemployed through the statutory decrees are not employed in the mainstream media. As Serpil Sayumlu said, ‘Let’s say you are a tailor for 20 years, and one day they prohibit you from using needle, thread, and fabric. Our situation is exactly like this.’”
Of the big purges in the media mark the aftermath of the AKP-Gülen community, which were almost partners in governing since 2003.
The most concrete example of the government-community conflict that started with Gülen community demanding more from the government surfaced with the fraud operation on December 17-25, 2013. The most concrete example of this conflict between the government and the Gülen community, which started with the community demanding more from the government, was revealed through the fraud operation that took place between December 17-23, 2013.
Trustees were appointed to the newspapers Millet and Bugün in İpek Koza Holding on October 2015, to Zaman, Today’s Zaman, and Meydan newspapers, Cihan News Agency and Aksiyon Magazine. The trustees closed down the newspapers.
Trustees were appointed in October 2015 to the newspapers Millet and Bugun, which were owned by Ipek Koza Holding. In March 2016, Cihan New Agency’s Zaman, Today’s Zaman and Meydan newspapers as well as Aksiyon Magazine were appointed trustees. The trustees closed down the newspapers.
178 media outlets were closed through the statutory decrees No. 668 (July 27, 2016), No. 675 (October 29, 2016), and 677 (November 22, 2016) issued as part of the State of Emergency declared on July 20, 2016, following the July 15 coup attempt.
According to the study by DİSK (Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey) Basın İŞ (Press Labor): 2,308 insured workers were left unemployed in the press, publishing and journalism sectors. It is not only that these people cannot receive their unemployment pay, but also they won’t be able to collect their debts owed even if they open a lawsuit.
Both resolution process and Kurdish media were closed
The government’s comprehensive operations against the Kurdish media started on July 24, 2015. Two days after an ISIS attack launched in Suruç on July 20, 2015, two police officers were killed in their homes on July 22 in Ceylanpınar district of Şanlıurfa province. A day later, it was decided in the security meeting held under the presidency of then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu that an operation would be carried out against the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party).
On July 24, when a military campaign was launched in Qandil, over 90 news websites that report on developments concerning the Kurdish issue,including Özgür Gündem, Azadiya Welat, and Özgür Politika, were blocked. The crackdowns against the Kurdish media intensified in this period of clashes. 23 TV and radio channels were closed on the grounds of “supporting destructor?destructive? and separatist activities” through the second statutory decree.
According to BİA’s Media Monitoring Report 2016, 778 press cards were cancelled; the property of 54 journalists was confiscated; the passports of 46 journalists were cancelled, and 3 people were discriminated against in terms of receiving accreditation.
The same report noted that 348 media workers, writers and journalists were fired in 2015, 339 in 2014, and 143 in 2013. This figure jumped to 2,708 in 2016.
According to information that the TGS Secretary of General Organization Mustafa Kuleli shared based on the data of Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, there are 95,000 workers in the Press-Publication-Journalism sector. Of the se workers, 24,000 are journalists and 9,000 are unemployed. Among 15,000 active journalists, 3,000 are union members. The number of media workers who made use of collective labor agreement is around 2,000.
According to the Progressive Journalists Association, three media workers were killed; 80 others were arrested; 299 were detained, and 32 were battered, subjected to violence or threatened in 2016. Within the same year, seven journalists were deported; 2,622 media workers were left unemployed; five broadcasting organizations were attacked; 157 media outlets, 9 publishing houses and companies were closed; 3 press centers were raided by police; gag orders were issued for 24 incidents; 20 websites were blocked, and 624 press cards and 32 parliamentary cards were revoked. According to TGS’ data, 142 journalists are behind bars as of January 19, 2017.
Even though different institutions share different figures as to the number of journalists left unemployed, there is a consensus that the number in the for the country overall is around 9,000-10,000.
According to TÜİK’s data in 2015, journalists have the highest rate of being unemployed among university graduates. As the unemployment rate was 9.9% in 2014, the figure was 29.1% in the field of journalism.
Despite having 24,000 people in the labor force by the end of 2014, 7,000 journalists were left unemployed in the sector, with 17,000 journalists employed. The unemployment rate of people who graduated from the fields of journalism and information almost tripled the average unemployment rate of those who graduated from a university or faculty.
There are only six media outlets who work with a collective labor agreement in Turkey. Five of them (Cumhuriyet, Evrensel, BirGün, bianet and Yurt ) are organized through TGS, and the other (Anadolu Agency) is organized in the Media-Labor union. (İA-EG/NU/HK)
* The "Unemployed Journalists Chasing News" project is being realized with the financial support of Matra-Human Rights Program of Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Gazeteciliğe 2000 yılında Bianet’te başladı. Sırasıyla Express, BirGün, Nokta, Yeni Aktüel, Newsweek Türkiye, Birikim, Radikal ve birdirbir.org ile zete.com web sitelerinde muhabirlik, editörlük veya yazarlık...
Gazeteciliğe 2000 yılında Bianet’te başladı. Sırasıyla Express, BirGün, Nokta, Yeni Aktüel, Newsweek Türkiye, Birikim, Radikal ve birdirbir.org ile zete.com web sitelerinde muhabirlik, editörlük veya yazarlık yaptı. Bir süre İMC TV Ankara Temsilciliği’ni yürüttü. "Nazê/Bir Göçüş Öyküsü" ile "Zehir ve Panzehir: Kürt Sorunu" isimli kitapların yazarı. Halen Express, Al Monitor ve Duvar'da yazıyor.
Ankara Üniversitesi, İletişim Fakültesi mezunu. Üniversite son sınıfta İMC TV Ankara büroda gazetecilik mesleğine başladı. 4 sene İMC TV’de kameraman olarak çalıştı. 2015 tarihinden sonra...
Ankara Üniversitesi, İletişim Fakültesi mezunu. Üniversite son sınıfta İMC TV Ankara büroda gazetecilik mesleğine başladı. 4 sene İMC TV’de kameraman olarak çalıştı. 2015 tarihinden sonra İMC TV'den ayrılıp freelance olarak kameramanlık yapmaya başladı. Çeşitli Televizyon kanallarına programlar çekti. Şu anda da serbest kameramanlık görevine devam ediyor.
Police operations targeting journalists covering th recent protests in Turkey have continued with the detention of two more reporters in morning raids today.
Nisa Sude Demirel, a reporter for the daily Evrensel, and Elif Bayburt from the Etkin News Agency (ETHA) were to the anti-terror branch of the İstanbul Security directorate after being apprehended, according to reports by their respective outlets.
Demirel had been youth protests and university boycotts for several days, said Hakkı Özdal, Evrensel editor-in-chief. "Nisa is a young and highly capable journalist who documented this historic youth resistance. We will get Nisa back," he wrote on social media.
The DİSK Press Workers (Basın-İş) union criticized the raids, saying, calling them an attack on press freedom and the public’s right to know.
“You cannot silence the truth by silencing journalists. The detained journalists must be released immediately," the union said.
Journalists detained during İmamoğlu protests
Several journalists covering the protests have been detained since demonstrations began on Mar 19, following the detention of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
On Mar 25, seven journalists were arrested under charges of violating the Law no 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations, a day after they were detained in house raids. The journalists —AFP photojournalist Yasin Akgül, Now Haber reporter Ali Onur Tosun, photojournalist Bülent Kılıç, reporter Zeynep Kuray, İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality photographer Kurtuluş Arı, Bakırköy Municipality photographer Gökhan Kam, and Hayri Tunç— were released on Mar 27 after legal objections were filed.
Another journalist, Sendika.Org reporter Zişan Gür, was detained while covering the Saraçhane protests on the night of Mar 25. Gür, who suffered a broken nose while in custody, was released the next day under judicial supervision.
In İzmir, three journalists were also detained over protest coverage. Barış İnce, a columnist for BirGün, and photojournalist Murat Kocabaş were taken into custody during house raids on Mar 24 and released on Mar 27. Journalist and İzmir Journalists Association board member Yağız Barut, who was detained on Mar 25, was also released on Mar 27.
Another journalist who covered the Saraçhane protests, Emre Orman, was also targeted in the police operations. His home was raided on Mar 24, but he was not present at the time and was not detained. A warrant was later issued for his arrest. Orman turned himself in to the police on Mar 27, gave a statement, and was released the same day.
Also, Turkey’s media regulator has imposed strict penalties on pro-opposition television channels for their protest coverage. Sözcü TV received a 10-day full broadcast suspension, while Halk TV, Tele 1, and Now TV were issued fines and episode bans for certain programs.
Separately, a court ordered the blocking of hundreds of X accounts, including that of independent news outlet bianet, though the ruling has not yet been enforced.
Turkey says deported BBC journalist lacked press accreditation
Mark Lowen was deported from Turkey, where he was reporting on the recent protests. The Communications Directorate says the deportation was not related to his news coverage.
Turkey's Communications Directorate has said that BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen was deported due to a lack of proper accreditation, denying that the decision was related to his coverage of protests following the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
Lowen said that he was deported yesterday after being held in custody for 17 hours. He had been in Turkey for several days to report on the recent protests against the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. In a statement following his return to the UK, Lowen said police told him he was considered a “threat to national security.”
BBC News described the incident as “deeply troubling.”
However, in a statement late yesterday, the Communications Directorate said the deportation stemmed from Lowen not holding the required documentation to work as a journalist in Turkey.
“As is publicly known, accreditation procedures for foreign press members operating in Türkiye—whether permanent or temporary—are carried out in accordance with Articles 9, 39, and 40 of the Press Card Regulation,” the statement read. “Journalists who enter our country and engage in professional activities without properly submitting an application are subject to administrative measures.”
“Mark Lowen, a UK citizen and BBC employee, travelled to İstanbul and reported without prior notification to, or accreditation from, our Directorate. As a result, administrative action was taken against him," said the statement.
Neither the BBC nor Lowen mentioned accreditation issues in their statements as the reason for the deportation. In a follow-up article later today, Lowen said the police hadn't mention the issue during this detention. It might have been an "afterthought on their part to attempt to justify my case," the journalist asserted.
Associating the Deportation of BBC News Correspondent Mark Lowen with “Journalistic Activities and Protest Coverage” is Disinformation
As is publicly known, accreditation procedures for foreign press members operating in Türkiye—whether permanent or temporary—are carried out in… pic.twitter.com/HiUdTLsNNJ
— Dezenformasyonla Mücadele Merkezi (@dmmiletisim) March 27, 2025
