Freelance journalist and author Tuğba Tekerek is in prison in Ankara after she was arrested in September 2026 on suspicion of obscenity. She is waiting to be indicted and tried.
Police in Istanbul took Tekerek into custody late on September 13, 2026 during a sweeping crackdown against the LGBTQ+ community, which saw dozens of activists and other individuals arrested 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 organizations, 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.
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.
CPJ emailed Turkey’s Justice Ministry for comment but did not receive a reply.