Hasan Toprak, a civil servant and the father of BirGün newspaper reporter Sarya Toprak, has been suspended from his post following a targeted campaign in pro-government media.
Toprak, a 30-year civil servant, has already been under an administrative investigation allegations of workplace harassment and insulting religious values. However, no measures were taken against him until publications by the daily Yeni Akit. The Bursa Family and Social Services Provincial Directorate suspended Toprak on Apr 29.
According to BirGün, the campaign stemmed from Sarya Toprak’s reporting on Gülistan Doku, a woman whose disappearance case was reopened six years later and led to high-profile arrests last month, including the then-governor of Tunceli (Dersim), where the incident happened.
Following these reports, Yeni Akit columnist Zekeriya Say continuously targeted Sarya Toprak and her family. Say shared information regarding Hasan Toprak’s workplace, his membership in the left-wing Confederation of Public Employees' Trade Unions (KESK), and his union activities.
He tagged the police, the Bursa Governor’s Office, and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Bursa organization on social media, calling for action against Toprak.
While smear campaigns by pro-government media and social media circles have triggered numerous judicial investigations in recent years, this marks the first time a journalist’s family has been singled out in such a manner.
After her father was suspended, Sarya Toprak addressed the issue on social media:
"Following this harassment, my father, a public employee of 30 years, was removed from his post by a sudden decision. What kind of law punishes a father because of his daughter's reporting? They are trying to discipline me through my family and my family through their jobs. I will never remain silent against these illegalities and what is being done to my family."
Response from unions
KESK Bursa Spokesperson Derviş Erdem stated that the suspension lacks a legal basis. Erdem noted that Hasan Toprak was the only administrator at the Bursa Family and Social Services Provincial Directorate who was a member of KESK.
"For this reason, they removed him from his post based on fabricated grounds. First, a newspaper targets someone, and then the provincial directorates and the governor’s office quickly take a position. We have seen this very clearly again in this incident."
DİSK Basın-İş press union described the pressure on the reporter’s family as an unacceptable illegality. The union stated that the suspension of Hasan Toprak was "not only an individual grievance but a clear practice of intimidation and punishment."
Erol Önderoğlu, the Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), also called for the decision to be reversed. "After the scandalous pressure on journalists, is it now the turn of their families?" Önderoğlu asked, describing the suspension as unconscionable. (HA/VK)
