Ceylan Şahinli, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency (MA), was one of 10 journalists detained for alleged terrorist links in various Turkish cities in October 2022. She was detained in the southeastern city of Şanlıurfa and transferred to Ankara. Şahinli was released pending trial in May 2023. In July 2024, the journalist was acquitted on charges of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization” by a local court. As of early 2026, she remained free pending a ruling on an appeal of the terrorism-related charges filed by the prosecution. Lawyers representing the journalists told CPJ that all of them have denied any connection with a terrorist group.
Employees of MA, which supports the political and cultural rights of Turkey’s ethnic Kurdish citizens, have been subject to frequent prosecution, as the Turkish authorities associate them with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, an armed group that has clashed with Turkey over Kurdish independence for decades.
On October 25, 2022, police simultaneously raided several homes and one newsroom in the cities of Ankara, Diyarbakır, Istanbul, Mardin, Urfa, and Van as part of an investigation led by the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office, arresting 10 journalists perceived as pro-Kurdish. One, Zemo Ağgöz Yiğitsoy, was released the next day on house arrest to care for her newborn baby, and then the house arrest was lifted in December 2022.
The remaining detainees were questioned on suspicion of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization” and about their journalistic activities, though they were not officially charged until February 2023. Prosecutors asked Şahinli about her news agency’s reporting, which she also shared on social media, according to documents provided to CPJ by her lawyer.
MA reported that police officers manhandled and threatened the journalists, handcuffing them for up to 15 hours during the transfer to Ankara and refusing to provide a medical assessment to confirm that some of them had been injured in custody. Some were kept in solitary confinement or given insufficient water, according to MA. Emrullah Acar, an MA reporter among the detainees, told colleagues from prison that Sincan does not provide reading materials in Kurdish, and denied inmates personal letters and healthcare.
In July 2024, the 4th Ankara Court of Serious Crimes found eight defendants guilty of PKK membership, while acquitting Şahinli. A local appeals court approved the prison sentences of seven of the defendants,alongside her acquittal, in November 2025.
However, since the prosecution appealed the local appeal court’s verdict, the matter will be decided by the Supreme Court of Appeals, and Şahinli may be retried for terrorism, a lawyer for the journalists told CPJ. As of early 2026, it was not known when the Supreme Court will hear the case
CPJ emailed the Turkish Ministry of Justice in January 2026 for comment on the case before the Supreme Court but did not receive any reply.
Separately, in February 2026, Şahinli was also charged with violating the law on demonstrations and meetings in the eastern city of Suruç. In early March, the chief prosecutor’s offices in the eastern province of Muş launched an investigation of Şahinli for alleged terrorism propaganda.
CPJ emailed the chief prosecutor’s offices in Suruç and Muş for comment regarding the 2026 charge and investigation, respectively, but did not receive any reply.