Turkish journalist, family receive death threats after reporting on bribery allegations
Istanbul, May 19, 2025—Turkish authorities should do everything in their power to protect BirGün reporter İsmail Arı and his family after they received death threats in connection with the journalist’s May 13 report in the leftist daily on court bribery allegations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. “Turkish authorities in Ankara must take the threats made against journalist…
Turkish journalist Furkan Karabay arrested again
Istanbul, May 16, 2025—Turkish authorities should immediately release freelance court reporter Furkan Karabay, who was detained during a police raid early Thursday in Istanbul, and stop detaining journalists who are trying to report the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. The detention marks at least the third in recent years. Later Thursday, an Istanbul…
Trial of 5 journalists who covered Turkish protests set to open
Istanbul, April 17, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkey to drop charges against five photojournalists, whose trial begins on Friday, for allegedly taking part in protests in Istanbul last month. The journalists could be jailed for up to three years for violating the law on gatherings and demonstrations. In the indictment, reviewed by…
Journalists in Turkey arrested, beaten, deported amid government crackdown on opposition
Istanbul, April 2, 2025—In the weeks since the March 19 detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a potential challenger to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the next presidential race, along with other members of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), civil unrest has erupted in western Turkey. The government, controlled by Erdoğan’s Justice and…
Swedish journalist imprisoned in Turkey; accused of insulting president, terrorism
Istanbul, March 31, 2025—Turkish authorities should immediately release Swedish journalist Kaj Joakim Medin, who was arrested March 27 in Istanbul on accusations of “being a member of a terrorist organization” and “insulting” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Committee to Protest Journalists said Monday. “Turkey was a haven for foreign journalists covering the region just a…
Several journalists hurt, detained by police amid Turkey protests
Istanbul, March 24, 2025—Turkish authorities should release the journalists taken into police custody during widespread protests and end hostile behavior towards the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Protests erupted and grew in multiple cities across Turkey following the government crackdown on Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was due to be selected as…
Prominent Turkish journalist İsmail Saymaz under house arrest for 2013 interviews
Istanbul, March 24, 2025—Turkish authorities should immediately cancel the house arrest of award-winning investigative journalist and writer İsmail Saymaz over his reporting on the 2013 Gezi Park protests and stop using the judiciary to muzzle the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On March 19, police took Saymaz, a freelance journalist and TV…
New Turkish law criminalizes ‘false’ reporting on cybersecurity-related data leaks
March 13, 2025—Turkey’s new cybersecurity law could criminalize legitimate reporting on cybersecurity incidents because of its overly broad and vague language, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. The law, passed on Wednesday, criminalizes reporting about an online data leak or sharing that report unless the authorities have confirmed the incident. It imposes a prison…
Isolated and restricted: 3 journalists on life and work under Turkish house arrest
On February 9, reporter Tolga Güney welcomed a CPJ representative into the apartment he shares with several colleagues in central Izmir, Turkey. It was his 362nd day under house arrest while awaiting trial on terrorism charges. “I believe I’m in this situation for doing my job,” he said over a glass of tea. Güney is…
In Turkey, 5 Halk TV journalists face trial for influencing judiciary with broadcast
Istanbul, March 3, 2025— Turkish authorities should free Halk TV editor-in-chief Suat Toktaş and drop the charges against him and four colleagues, whose trial is due to open on March 4, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. An Istanbul court arrested Toktas on January 26 after pro-opposition Halk TV broadcast a conversation between its…