Journalists speaking out means prison and persecution!

Published for 25 years and running 54 pages in its latest quarterly edition, the BİA Media Monitoring Report shows that journalists are now widely convicted due to the news and topics they bring to the public, in proportion to the "risks" these efforts pose in the eyes of the government.

In the last three months, T24 columnist Tolga Şardan was convicted on charges of "insulting judicial organs" over his story on the "MİT judiciary report," journalists Barış Pehlivan, Murat Ağırel, and Zafer Arapkirli for "publicly disseminating misleading information (disinformation)," Timur Soykan for "violating confidentiality of an investigation," and journalist Erdoğan Alayumat for "making propaganda for a terrorist organization."

The report indicates that continuous arrests of journalists continued in the second quarter of 2026, following DW Türkçe reporter Alican Uludağ, Aydınpost editor-in-chief Yelis Ayaz, and BirGün newspaper's İsmail Arı, with Kaos GL news site editor-in-chief Yıldız Tar, who was jailed under the pretext of the NATO Summit.

Total of 7 years and 6 months in prison for six journalists in three months

In the past three months, during which dozens of journalists were put on trial, prosecutions carried out against at least 12 of them on charges of "publicly disseminating misleading information," "insulting state institutions," "insulting religious values," "violating confidentiality," "making organization propaganda," or "membership in an organization" were concluded. While some of the journalists were acquitted, six were sentenced to a total of 7 years and 6 months in prison (1 year and 6 months suspended) as a result of the trials:

T24 columnist Tolga Şardan was sentenced to a suspended five-month prison sentence on charges of "insulting judicial organs" over his news report titled "MİT judiciary report." Investigative journalists Barış Pehlivan and Murat Ağırel were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison on charges of "publicly disseminating misleading information" due to their statements on the program "Kayda Geçsin" on Halk TV.

Timur Soykan was also given a suspended 10-month prison sentence on charges of "violating confidentiality." Journalist Zafer Arapkirli, a writer for BirGün newspaper, was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison on charges of "publicly disseminating qualified misleading information" due to a social media post regarding attacks targeting Alawites in Syria. Erdoğan Alayumat was sentenced to a suspended 1 year and 3 months in prison on grounds of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization."

Journalist İskender Kahraman, who was retried on charges of "organization propaganda" over articles about Rojava and Afrin published on the Yüksekova Haber website in 2017 and 2018, was acquitted. Journalist Ender İmrek, who was held under house arrest for 100 days as part of the HDK investigation, and Ercüment Akdeniz, who was detained for eight months, were acquitted in the cases where they were tried for "organization membership." A similar decision was reached for Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporters Esra Solin Dal and Mehmet Aslan.

Persecution through arrests continues with İsmail Arı and Yıldız Tar

Chronic problems regarding the arrest of journalists due to political conjuncture or after bringing political authorities to the agenda continued in the last three-month period with reporters such as BirGün newspaper reporter İsmail Arı, Aydınpost site owner Yelis Ayaz, and magazine journalist Bilal Özcan.

Along with these journalists, although DW Türkçe reporter Alican Uludağ, who was previously arrested, was recently released, the imprisonment of Kaos GL news site editor-in-chief Yıldız Tar under the pretext of an "organization operation" before the NATO Summit constituted a fresh example of the violation of fundamental journalism rights due to conjuncture. The detention of 40-year journalist and TELE1 editor-in-chief Merdan Yanardağ in a lawsuit filed with the allegation of "political espionage" has exceeded eight months.

Three out of five detentions against LGBTI+ journalism

While at least five journalists were detained in the April - June period, the reason for the deprivation of liberty of three of them (Müberra Ünsal, Yusuf Çelik, and Doğa Tekneci) was following the LGBTI+ Pride Week and related agenda. Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporter Sema Bingöl was also detained with battery while following the demonstration commemorating Ethem Sarısülük, who was killed in Ankara.

Three out of five attacks in front of CHP Headquarters

In the last three months, at least five journalists were subjected to attacks or physical interventions by political figures or groups, and one was threatened due to their broadcast.

While three journalists were harshly intervened with in the events in front of the main opposition party Republican People’s Party (CHP) Headquarters after the absolute nullity decision regarding CHP, former Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu could cope with the questions of the Now TV reporter by pushing away their microphone.

In addition, a police officer sprayed tear gas at close range into the eye of Gülseren Özkan from the Kısa Dalga site, who was following the May 1 demonstrations. The office door of İzmir-based İz Gazete was also damaged outside working hours by being forced with a drill.

Insulting the president: 16 journalists and cartoonists on trial

Arbitrary lawsuits regarding the charge of "insulting the president" against journalists in Turkey continued in the last three months with trials opened against at least 16 journalists and cartoonists (Alican Uludağ, Deniz Yücel, Sedef Kabaş, Baransel Ağca, Erk Acarer, Julien Serignac, Gerard Biard, Laurent Sourisseau, "Alice", Mehmet Tezkan, İbrahim Kahveci, Suat Toktaş, Ramazan Yurttapan, Haydar Ergül, Doğan Pehlevan, and Rüstem Batum) demanding up to 4 years and 8 months in prison. In this period, Sefer Selçuk Özbek and Gökay Başcan also came to the agenda with investigations opened against them. No conviction decision was identified under this article in the last three-month period.

Consequently, Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code served as a basis for the prosecution of over 250 journalists and the sentencing of at least 80 (some suspended) to prison or fine penalties during President Erdoğan's 12-year term in office. Neither the Venice Commission recommendation of 2016 nor the "Vedat Şorli" conviction issued by the ECtHR against Turkey in Oct 2021 could, unfortunately, prevent journalists from being harassed with arbitrary lawsuits in the intervening time.

Without state will, fight against impunity remains weak

Thirty-two years later, the judiciary and authorized institutions have finally thought to investigate the location of the bomber and his family who placed the bomb in the vehicle of investigative journalist and Cumhuriyet newspaper columnist Uğur Mumcu, causing his death.

While the Pelitli Group in Trabzon and "security officials who cleared the path for the murder on behalf of FETÖ" were punished regarding the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, those who prepared the ground for the murder by targeting Dink through actions, programs, and declarations were left untouched. In the case regarding the fatal attack that environmental documentarian Hakan Tosun was subjected to in Esenyurt, İstanbul, on the night of Oct 10, 2025, the dimension regarding the attack's connection to his professional activities could not yet be observed.

The retrial of those who severely battered Yeniçağ newspaper columnist Yavuz Selim Demirağ in Ankara on May 10, 2019, will continue on Sep 10. Regarding the armed attack carried out against journalist Yaman Kaya from Bursa in 2023, two defendants who were acquitted the following year due to "lack of evidence" are being retried at the Bursa Heavy Penal Court. A decision was made to forcibly bring defendant İsa Can Biler to the hearing, who was arrested and then released after firing 10 shots at the İzmir office of Evrensel newspaper on the night of Aug 13, 2025.

Albayraks expecting 400,000 liras in compensation get 30,000...

In the last three months, during which at least four journalists and three media outlets were tried at civil courts of first instance or commercial courts for a total of 2,650,000 liras in compensation, Evrensel newspaper writer and academician Ceren Sözeri was sentenced to pay 20,000 liras in the lawsuit filed by Turkuvaz Media Company and Serhat Albayrak over her article titled "Who made the AKP lose votes?"

Journalist Hazal Ocak was also sentenced to pay 10,000 liras to Berat Albayrak over her news report in Cumhuriyet newspaper titled "The son-in-law knows his business." Serhat Albayrak and Berat Albayrak were expecting 200,000 liras in compensation each from the files.

Online censorship: Research, criticism, and LGBTI+ reporting targeted

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) and penal judgeships of peace continue full steam ahead with online censorship based on "personal rights," which the Constitutional Court annulled as of Oct 10, 2024. Since then, they have been using the ground of "national security and public order" to prevent issues such as irregularities and corruption from reflecting to the public. Access to at least 24 online news articles was blocked in the last three months.

In the region of the "Year of the Family" policies declared by President Erdoğan, X accounts of numerous journalists and news outlets, such as Yusuf Çelik, Esra Ece Kutlu, Zilan Azad, and Kaos GL Editor Oğulcan Özgenç, were banned in the last three months, particularly along with LGBTI+ reporting. Access blocks in the last three months targeted the X accounts of Bülent Mumay, Erk Acarer, Abdurrahman Gök, İslam Özkan, Yusuf Çelik, Esra Ece Kutlu, Zilan Azad, Oğulcan Özgenç, and Nisan Çıra, as well as the TGS Women and LGBTI+ Commission and the Velvele website.

The censorship of the investigative dossier titled "Visa Empire" by Canan Coşkun on the Kısa Dalga news site, along with related news and social media posts, again in the name of "protecting national security and public order," constituted one of the clear and severe examples of investigative journalism being recklessly suffocated through the judiciary. The problem of accreditation discrimination against the media observed at the NATO Summit in Ankara, which was also registered by courts in Turkey, became part of the international agenda accompanied by harsh reactions from media freedom organizations.

AYM remains hope as long as arbitrary arrests do not end

In terms of arbitrary journalist detention as severe consequences of the political instrumentalization of the judiciary, as was the case in the processes regarding Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener, Can Dündar and Erdem Gül in the past, the Constitutional Court (AYM) received new applications for journalists Alican Uludağ and İsmail Arı in the last three months as well.

The AYM continues to be the sole guarantee within the scope of individual applications on the basis of rights to "security" and "freedom of press and expression" being disregarded in journalist files. In this period, another application was made by MLSA regarding the licensing regime of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) that poses a threat to online broadcasting.

ECtHR broke silence for Çetinkaya

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which had remained silent on journalism rights for a long period, broke its silence with a decision published in the last three months: It ruled that journalist Tuncer Çetinkaya, who was arrested during the coup attempt process on charges of "membership in an organization" and "targeting the constitutional order," was arbitrarily arrested; it also sentenced Turkey to pay 20,656 euros (approximately 1,090,000 liras) in compensation.

RTÜK punishes political criticism

Under the chairmanship of Mehmet Daniş since Oct 2025, while the provocative discourse and outbursts of his predecessor, Ebubekir Şahin, have not been observed, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) continues to go after channels that bring the political statements of Republican People’s Party (CHP) or Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) officials to the agenda.

RTÜK fined channels Halk TV and Koza TV on grounds of "acting contrary to broadcast bans," which have a scope issue in Turkey, as well as SZC TV and Halk TV again for bringing political criticism to the screen.

RTÜK member İlhan Taşçı stated on his X account that "RTÜK has almost taken on the role of acting as the lawyer for Justice Minister Akın Gürlek."

In the April, May, and June 2026 period, RTÜK issued administrative fines to TV outlets a total of three times due to news and program broadcasts. The Council imposed a total administrative fine of 1,114,913 liras on TV outlets.

Eight unemployed in three months

In the last three months, at least eight journalists, programmers, presenters, and editorial staff members lost their jobs due to shifts in editorial policy or broadcasting disputes.

After Halk TV program presenter Seda Selek left the channel stating she had "justified reasons," four more departures took place, especially following reactions directed at channel owner Cafer Mahiroğlu. Mahmut Oral, editor-in-chief of Diyarbakır-based SurAjans and Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) Diyarbakır representative, was forced to resign following backlash after reporting on imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's meeting notes at İmralı, in order to "not harm the process." (EÖ/HA/VK)