Istanbul, April 15, 2026—Turkish authorities must stop harassing critical journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
Zafer Arapkirli (of the leftist daily BirGün and BirGün TV), Barış Pehlivan (of the pro-opposition daily Cumhuriyet, and the Onlar TV YouTube channel), Timur Soykan (BirGün, Onlar TV), and Murat Ağırel (Cumhuriyet, Onlar TV) were sentenced to prison by two Istanbul courts in separate cases on April 14, over their critical comments on social media or during broadcast. All remain free pending appeal.
“Punishing journalists Zafer Arapkirli, Barış Pehlivan, Timur Soykan, and Murat Ağırel for doing their jobs is unacceptable,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Authorities in Turkey shouldn’t fight the appeals of the journalists, and needs to put an end to prosecuting critical media.”
The Istanbul court that heard the case against Arapkirli on charges of “inciting the people into animosity and hatred” and “publicly spreading disinformation” acquitted the journalist from the former on April 14 while sentencing him to two years and six months in prison for the latter. The journalist pleaded not guilty. Arapkirli was being tried for a social media post on X regarding alleged violence targeting the Alevi community in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime in 2024.
Another Istanbul court heard the case against Pehlivan, Soykan, Ağırel, and Şule Aydın (Onlar TV) regarding an October 8, 2024, broadcast about Turkey’s foreign trade with Israel, when the four were employed by the pro-opposition broadcaster Halk TV. On April 14, the court acquitted Aydın of the charges of disinformation and “violating [the] secrecy [of an investigation]” while finding the others guilty. Pehlivan was acquitted of his secrecy charge but received a 15-month prison sentence for the charge of disinformation. Ağırel was acquitted of his secrecy charge and the charge for “publicly demeaning the religious values embraced by a section of the people” but he too, received a 15-month sentence over “disinformation.” Soykan received a suspended sentence of 10 months for violating secrecy while being acquitted of his disinformation and demeaning religious values charges.
None of the defendants were present at the hearing, and their lawyers pleaded not guilty for each.
CPJ sent an email requesting comment from the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office but did not receive a reply.