Aziz Oruç, an editor for the Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency, is on release pending trial after he was taken into police custody – alongside 14 other Kurdish journalists and a media worker – in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakır in June 2022.
In April 2023, after around 10 months in jail, Oruç, the 15 others who were detained alongside him, plus three other journalists, who were not arrested, were indicted on the charge of “being a member of a (terrorist) organization”. Their trial began on July 11, 2023, in Diyarbakır and the next day, it was reported that 15 of the defendants, including Oruç, were released pending the outcome of the trial. Another defendant, Safiye Alagaş, was earlier released pending trial in June.
The trial continues in Diyarbakır with the next hearing set for November 10, 2026.
As of August 2026, Oruç and the other defendants remained under a foreign travel ban.
Mezopotamya focuses on regional news from eastern Turkey, Kurdish issues, and politics. The news agency has faced retaliatory action from Turkish authorities in the past for its reporting, with its offices raided and journalists arrested.
Case history
On June 8, 2022, Diyarbakır police raided several locations in the city, including journalists’ houses and newsrooms and took into custody 20 journalists and media workers, along with a citizen who was once interviewed by one of the journalists. On June 15, 15 of those journalists, including Oruç, and one media worker were jailed by a court pending trial.
In an interview published by the leftist daily Evrensel on July 3, 2022, Oruç said the arresting police officers did not provide any information on the accusations against them due to a court order of secrecy on the investigation, but he said they were questioned about their journalism. Oruç also told Evrensel that he was questioned about street interviews he conducted for his show “Sokağın Sesi” (The Voice of the Street), which was broadcast by European-based, pro-Kurdish broadcaster Medya Haber TV.
Resul Temur, a lawyer who represents the 15 journalists and the media worker, told independent news website Bianet in 2022 that his clients were questioned about the angle they took on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a militant group and political party that Turkey classifies as a terrorist group, and whether the content the journalists created for broadcast by European outlets was considered pro-PKK. Most of the journalists either work for pro-Kurdish media outlets or independent production companies that provide content for other outlets, according to news reports and CPJ’s interviews with local journalists.
Diyarbakır courts denied the journalists’ appeals of their arrests and their pretrial detention on August 22 and September 8, 2022.
CPJ emailed the Turkish Ministry of Justice in October 2022 and September 2026 for comment but did not receive any reply.