Turkey / Europe & Central Asia

Istanbul, October 14, 2026—Turkish authorities must immediately return control of Halk TV, one of the few remaining media voices critical of the government, to its staff and cease their relentless efforts to stifle the free flow of information in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Police officers raided Halk TV’s headquarters in…

Istanbul, October 12, 2026—Turkey’s ongoing crackdown on independent media is continuing at an alarming pace with four more journalists arrested and placed under house arrest over the weekend on suspicion of publicly spreading disinformation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.  On October 9, Turkish police questioned Mustafa Balcı and İsmail Saymaz from the independent Sözcü…

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday joined 20 local and international partner organizations in a joint statement asking Turkey and social media platforms to stop censoring journalists and rights defenders online by blocking their accounts, and respect the right to free expression.  The Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) found that in September alone, Turkish…

Istanbul, October 6, 2026—Turkish authorities must immediately release journalist Derya Okatan and stop an escalating press crackdown that in this case involves imprisoning a veteran reporter based on flimsy evidence, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Okatan, who most recently worked for independent broadcaster TELE1 before it was taken over by the government, was…

Istanbul, October 5, 2026—Turkish authorities have weaponized the country’s disinformation law to stifle independent reporting by repeatedly detaining and arresting journalists on charges of spreading false information based on the vague tenets of this poorly conceived legislation. This tactic fits into a global pattern of using legal systems and institutions to criminalize legitimate journalism and…

Istanbul, September 29, 2026—Turkey is blatantly using its disinformation law to detain and arrest journalists, with two more reporters arrested in recent days. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls urgently on authorities to repeal this poorly conceived legislation and release all those unjustly held.  Ali Tarakçı, a journalist who broadcasts on YouTube, was arrested on…

New York, September 18, 2026–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to immediately release Ahmet Polad, a Kurdish-Turkish journalist who was transferred to Turkey this month after nearly eight months of enforced disappearance in Syria and is reported to be in extremely poor health. Polad’s lawyer, Özlem Gümüştaş, told CPJ on Friday that…

Istanbul, September 17, 2026—Journalist Nadiye Gürbüz, who went on trial in Istanbul this week after spending more than seven months behind bars, must be freed immediately and Turkish authorities must stop abusing anti-terrorism laws to prevent journalists from doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday. Gürbüz, an editor at the socialist…

Istanbul, September 16, 2026—Turkish authorities must immediately release freelance journalist Tuğba Tekerek and stop jailing, detaining and intimidating reporters for simply doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.  Police in Istanbul took Tekerek into custody late on September 13 during a sweeping crackdown against the LGBTQ+ community, which saw dozens of activists…

Istanbul, September 15, 2026—Turkish authorities must release arrested journalist Selahattin Günday without delay and stop abusing the country’s laws to harass journalists and prevent them from doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.  Günday, a former broadcast reporter for the now closed Doğan News Agency (DHA), was taken into custody by Istanbul…