Istanbul, September 16, 2026—Turkish authorities must immediately release freelance journalist Tuğba Tekerek and stop jailing, detaining and intimidating reporters for simply doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
Police in Istanbul took Tekerek into custody late on September 13 during a sweeping crackdown against the LGBTQ+ community, which saw dozens of activists and other individuals arrested over the weekend in raids on their homes and on gay bars.
Tekerek was brought to Ankara and on September 15 she was arrested by a court pending trial on suspicion of obscenity because of an article she wrote for Kaos GL, one of Turkey’s largest LGBTQ+ rights organisations, which also has a news website.
The obscenity allegations, which relate to a story she wrote about elections in Georgia two years ago, may become charges if the case goes to trial. No trial date has been set yet.
At protests over the LGBTQ+ crackdown on Tuesday in Istanbul, two journalists were also detained. Şener Azak, a reporter with German ARD TV, was released shortly afterwards but Sarya Toprak, a reporter for the daily BirGün, remained in custody alongside more than 100 other detainees. Her employer said on September 16 that her detention period had been extended and she was questioned about her social media posts regarding the crackdown.
“It’s unacceptable that journalist Tuğba Tekerek was imprisoned for doing some freelance work for an LGBTQ+ publication years ago,” said Fiona O’Brien, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia regional director. “This kind of indiscriminate and retrospective prosecution not only infringes her rights, but also sends a chilling message to all journalists. Turkish authorities should release Tekerek unconditionally and without delay, and stop pursuing journalists who are covering the crackdown.”
Tekerek was detained alongside seven board members and seven substitute board members of Kaos GL. The seven detained board members were also arrested on suspicion of obscenity while the seven substitute board members were released under judicial control, which means they will be under a foreign travel ban and have to report to police regularly. The websites of Kaos GL and its news outlet were blocked in Turkey by court order.
CPJ inspected Tekerek’s police interrogation records and the court’s arrest order. During her interrogation and in court, Tekerek denied the police’s allegations that she ran Kaos GL’s Instagram account, adding that she does not have any ties to the association apart from the single news story she wrote for their website two years ago when she was covering elections in Georgia.
Tekerek told the court that she has never been a member of or volunteer for Kaos GL and does not know the other detainees, except for one.
Rights groups say the LGBTQ+ crackdown, codenamed “My Family is Safe,” targets fundamental rights. At least 54 people were jailed in other provinces and on Tuesday police detained at least 126 people during protests in Ankara and Istanbul against the raids and arrests.
CPJ emailed Turkey’s Justice Ministry for comment but did not receive a reply.