Zemo Ağgöz Yiğitsoy, an editor and reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency (MA), was one of 10 journalists detained for alleged terrorist links in various Turkish cities in October 2022. She was detained in Ankara and put under house arrest until it was lifted in December 2022. In July 2024, Ağgöz was found guilty of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization” alongside seven others and sentenced to six years and three months in prison. As of early 2026, she remained free pending appeal. 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. Ağgöz has worked for MA since 2018, focusing on gender and legal issues.
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.
Ağgöz was placed under house arrest the next day to care for her newborn baby. In an interview from her home, Ağgöz told MA police had interrogated her about her sources, articles, and expenses. She was required to wear an ankle monitor and not leave the house, and prosecutors presented her with recordings of tapped phone conversations she had conducted with colleagues and sources about Kurdish issues, as well as her posts on social media, according to documents provided to CPJ by her lawyer.
The remaining detainees were questioned on suspicion of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization” and about their journalistic activities, and eventually charged in February 2023.
In July 2024, the 4th Ankara Court of Serious Crimes found Ağgöz and seven others guilty of PKK membership. They remained free pending appeal. A local appeals court approved the prison sentences in November 2025 but didn’t immediately arrest the journalists. The defendants had one more chance to appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeals and will be imprisoned to serve their sentences if they lose there, 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 but did not receive any reply.