RUTHFULLY YOURS

On March 19, just days before the March 23 primaries of Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — the CHP’s leading candidate who was thought by many possibly to win the next presidential election against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — was arrested on contested charges of “corruption and terrorism.”

A day earlier, on March 18, Imamoglu’s university degree was revoked, “citing ‘nullity’ and ‘clear error’ as grounds for cancellation… The decision affects Imamoglu and 27 other individuals whose academic credentials have now been invalidated….” according to Turkiye Today.

Imamoglu’s detention sparked one of the biggest street demonstrations against Erdogan since he was first elected as national leader in 2002.

On March 29, hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Istanbul for a mass rally called by the CHP to oppose the jailing of Imamoglu.

On March 23, Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık and Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan were also jailed. The same day, both Imamoglu and Çalık were suspended from office.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on March 27 that 1,879 people had been detained, 260 arrested, and judicial control decisions were issued for 468 of those detained and arrested, while 489 were released. The legal procedures for 662 people are currently under review.

Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a CHP Member of Parliament reported on March 27:

“We spoke with lawyers… All of the detainees, absolutely all of them, were tortured terribly while being detained. They were tortured terribly in the detention vehicle, while being taken to Gayrettepe [police station]. There are young people among them who are in really bad shape. What is terrible is that there is nothing [as evidence against them] in their investigation files, not even a photo against them…. these are revenge trials. The prosecutors who took testimonies of detainees yesterday, today do not talk with the lawyers, in any way.”

Tanrıkulu told Sözcü TV:

“We were at Çağlayan Courthouse for the last two days, with lawyers and our MP friends. We witnessed it in person, not just heard from lawyers. We spoke to those who were brought from police custody and taken to the judgeship, we listened to their statements….

They [the police] kicked young girls between the legs and made them bleed. I have never heard anything like this before…. The prosecutor decided to arrest them without taking their testimonies.”

The lawyers, Tanrıkulu added, wanted to explain the situation of the detainees with a petition to the prosecutors, but an investigating prosecutor said he would not take petitions from lawyers and a judge told the lawyers in the courtroom to “Get out, I have arrested them all.”

“This is not a [proper] judiciary,” Tanrıkulu said.

Turkish authorities have, in the meantime, continued to crack down on media coverage of the protest movement. On March 29, Swedish journalist Joakim Medin was arrested on charges of “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” and “insulting the president.” Andreas Gustavsson, editor-in-chief of Dagens ETC newspaper, disclosed that Medin, who was in Turkey to cover the ongoing protests against the arrest of Imamoglu, had not been heard from for two days.

Thirteen Turkish journalists covering the protests were also arrested, although 11 were freed on March 27, including AFP photographer Yasin Akgul.

Turkish authorities also deported BBC correspondent Mark Lowen after holding him for 17 hours on the grounds that he posed “a threat to public order.” Erdogan’s regime has additionally incarcerated many opposition mayors, members of parliament, politicians, and party members.

In past decade alone, Erdogan’s regime has arrested hundreds of Kurdish mayors, politicians and political activists over “terrorism” charges — a standard accusation against anyone critical of the Turkish government or members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Several HDP members of parliament, including the party’s co-heads Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, were jailed after finding their immunity lifted.

Democratically elected Kurdish mayors, deputy mayors, municipal council- and staff-members of the HDP and its sister party, DBP (Democratic Regions Party), have also been suspended, dismissed or arrested for alleged terrorism-related offenses, later replaced by government-appointed trustees. Turkey’s Constitutional Court is currently in the process of deciding whether to close the HDP party.[1]

The extremely broad, vague terrorism-related articles in the Turkish Anti-Terror Law and the Turkish Penal Code have long been criticized by international human rights organizations, The World Organization Against Torture stated in a briefing on June 13, 2022:

“Turkey has been employing counter-terrorism and national security legislation to restrict rights and freedoms and silence the voices of human rights defenders… In the last three months of 2021 alone, no less than 1,220 human rights defenders suffered judicial harassment or reprisals…”

In 2024, Erdogan’s regime continued arbitrarily to arrest opposition mayors. Turkey’s Foundation of Human Rights (TIHV) reported:

“In 2024, many members and executives of political parties, mayors, and municipal council members were detained and arrested, and pressure was exerted on them through lawsuits filed against them. Trustees were appointed to the municipalities. Summaries of proceedings against members of parliament were sent to the Turkish parliament and there were attacks on members of political parties and their buildings.”

According to the findings of the TIHV, in just the first 11 months of 2024:

“8 people elected to municipalities, including 3 mayors or co-mayors and 5 municipal council members, were detained by police, and 3 people were arrested.

“43 journalists were detained. 11 journalists were jailed. 1 journalist was prevented from entering the country. At least 3 journalists were attacked, because of which at least 1 journalist was injured. 14 journalists were threatened. Investigations were launched against 42 journalists. 253 cases opened against 534 press workers continued to be heard.”

On October 30, 2024, the Mayor of Esenyurt Municipality in Istanbul, Ahmet Özer, a CHP member, was detained “within the scope of the investigations carried out to identify the members and activities of the PKK/KCK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] terrorist organization”, was removed from office, and a trustee was appointed in his place.

On November 4, 2024, Mardin Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ahmet Türk, Batman Mayor Gülistan Sönük and Mayor Mehmet Karayılan of Halfeti (in Kurdish-majority southeast Turkey) were dismissed from office over “terrorism” charges. Türk’s dismissal was based on his 10-year prison sentence in the Kobani case and the ongoing cases and investigations against him.[2]

Meanwhile, Erdogan’s regime has arrested many dissident journalists and continues to apply financial and judicial pressure on media outlets that refuse to operate as mouthpieces for the regime.

On January 29, Halk TV’s editor-in-chief Suat Toktaş, program coordinator Kürşad Oğuz, and journalist Barış Pehlivan were detained for broadcasting a recorded phone conversation with an expert witness. While Pehlivan and Oğuz were released under judicial control measures, Toktaş was arrested. Pehlivan and Oğuz have been banned from leaving the country. Halk TV is one of Turkey’s largest private TV channels that is critical of Erdogan’s government.

According to the International Press Institute (IPI), in January 2025 alone, at least nine journalists were arrested, six sentenced to prison, five detained, 23 faced investigations and one encountered police obstruction.

On February 5, a coalition of international press freedom organizations, led by the IPI, called on Turkish authorities to halt what they describe as an escalating crackdown on independent journalism.

“The frequent use of arbitrary arrests, detentions, judicial control measures, and convictions poses an existential threat to independent media, democratic discourse, and fundamental human rights in the country.

“Turkey must ensure that its practices align with international standards for the protection of freedom of expression and press freedom.”

Among the most alarming cases cited by IPI and its partners is the January 17 detention of six Kurdish journalists — Reyhan Hacıoğlu, Necla Demir, Rahime Karvar, Vedat Örüç, Velat Ekin and Ahmet Güneş, who, after a series of coordinated police raids in Istanbul, Diyarbakır, Van and Mersin, were held without access to legal representation. Five journalists were jailed; Güneş was released on February 4. The journalists are accused of “terror organization membership” over their professional activities.

Their lawyer, Elif Taşdöğen, criticized the judicial process as “a predetermined ruling that disregarded fundamental rights,” adding:

“There was no chance for a defense. The court’s approach, dismissing the need for proper questioning and forwarding the case directly to a ruling, exposes the state of our legal system. The decision appears prepared beforehand.”

IPI and its partners presented in their statement a timeline documenting an acceleration of violations of press freedoms over just the last month:

• On January 2, authorities launched an investigation against journalist Aslıhan Gençay for her reporting on corruption in Hatay. They blocked access to her article and charged her with multiple offenses, including violations of the “disinformation law” — an apparent attempt to suppress investigative journalism.
• On January 7, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against 21 journalists who covered the Kobani trial’s final hearing. The journalists face potential fines for alleged unauthorized photography — a move that effectively criminalizes routine court reporting.
• On January 21, Rudaw TV correspondent Rawin Sterk Yıldız faced police interference while documenting a detention in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district. Despite clearly identifying himself as a journalist, he was prevented from documenting the public incident.
• On January 23, a troubling verdict resulted in five journalists – Yakup Çetin, Ahmet Memiş, Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Ünal Tanık, Yetkin Yıldız, Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu – receiving harsh sentences—ranging from 25 months to over six years in prison — in a “terrorism”-related case, despite the absence of credible evidence.
• On January 24, the arrest of journalist Eylem Babayiğit once again demonstrated the arbitrary use of “membership of an organization” charges.
• On January 28, the launch of an investigation into T24 columnist Şirin Payzın for alleged “terror propaganda” over social media posts indicates a concerning expansion of surveillance and criminalization of online expression.
• On January 28, the conviction of journalist Safiye Alagaş, former news editor for the pro-Kurdish JINNEWS, resulted in a six years and three months prison sentence. Alagaş has already spent a year in pretrial detention and is currently free while awaiting appeal.

The IPI statement also highlights how Turkey’s broadcast regulator’s decisions threaten press freedom:

“Turkey’s broadcast regulator RTÜK has demonstrated a concerning pattern of targeting critical media outlets. Just before the journalists’ detention over broadcasting a recorded phone conversation, the RTÜK Chair Ebubekir Şahin, signaling the impending crackdown, warned of potential consequences for media outlets and journalists regarding the broadcast. signaling the impending crackdown. In his statement, he criticized Halk TV for recording and broadcasting a phone conversation with an expert witness without permission and allegedly attempting to influence ongoing legal proceedings.

“This incident reflects a broader pattern of regulatory pressure on critical media. In 2024, RTÜK imposed 24 broadcast bans resulting in fines totaling 81.5 million Turkish lira (approximately €2.2 million or $2.3 million), with the majority targeting media critical of the government….

“In a recent example, following the devastating hotel fire in Bolu that erupted in the early morning hours of January 20, 2025, claiming 78 lives, the RTÜK Chair directed media outlets to report solely on information from official sources. Shortly after this directive, the Bolu 2nd Criminal Court of Peace imposed a broadcasting ban on coverage of the disaster at the request of the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.”

The statement called Turkey’s judicial control measures against journalists “a new tool for censorship”.

“While there appears to be a decrease in the number of journalists in prison, this masks a troubling shift toward using judicial control measures—such as travel bans, regular check-ins at police stations, and house arrest—as alternative means of restricting press freedom. This trend represents an equally antidemocratic practice aimed at controlling journalists’ freedom of movement and expression. The systematic implementation of these measures, combined with increasing online censorship, appears to be replacing traditional detention as a method of silencing independent journalism….

‘[T]he arbitrary imposition of travel bans, house arrests and other restrictions continues to impede their ability to perform their professional duties effectively. These measures, originally intended as exceptional remedies to ensure judicial proceedings, are increasingly being weaponized to create a chilling effect on press freedom.”

Meanwhile, Turkey also appears to be targeting journalists outside its borders. Kurdish journalists Nazım Daştan, 32, and Cihan Bilgin, 29, who had Turkish citizenship, were murdered in a Turkish drone strike on December 19, 2024 in northern Syria, while covering clashes between Turkey-backed jihadist forces and US-allied Kurdish forces.

After the murders of the two journalists, the Istanbul Bar Association, on its official X account, called on Turkey to “adhere to international humanitarian law.”

The president of the Istanbul Bar Association, Ibrahim Kaboglu, and 10 board members now face criminal charges carrying prison sentences of up to 12 years, for their statements regarding those murders: for allegedly “disseminating the propaganda of a terrorist organization” and “publicly disseminating misleading information through the press.”

Journalists’ organizations in Turkey — including the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association, the Mezopotamya Women Journalists Association and the Press Workers Union — organized a protest in Istanbul to condemn the murder of the two journalists. Fourteen people, including seven journalists, are now facing “terrorism”-related charges for participating in the protest.

Turkey has been in the top ten list of the worst jailers of journalists, prepared by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and has taken first place five times in recent years (2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2018).

Although dozens of journalists have been freed since 2022, most are still under investigation or awaiting trial, placing a stranglehold on the country’s critical media, CPJ’s research shows.

“Even if there were zero journalists in prison today, 200 journalists may be arrested tomorrow,” said Barış Altıntaş, co-director of the Media and Law Studies Association. “The government determines the number of arrested journalists, even when it is low.”

As Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative, asks:

“Why is Turkey—a NATO member with close ties to the West—frequently ranked alongside authoritarian states like Iran and Egypt in CPJ’s prison census?”

On March 27, Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (TRUK) imposed penalties on TV channels — such as Sozcu TV, Halk TV, Tele 1 and NOW TV — that refused to toe the line for Erdogan’s regime in their broadcasts of the nationwide protests, starting with the detention of Imamoglu. Sozcu TV, TRUK announced, would be taken off the air for 10 days.

Fines and program-suspension penalties were imposed on Halk TV, Tele 1 and NOW TV on the grounds that they were “inciting the public to hatred and hostility” during their coverage of the protests, including a speech delivered by the head of the CHP party.

Meanwhile, the government continues to pardon and release imprisoned Turkish Hizbullah terrorists. On March 29, Erdogan pardoned the sentences of Şehmus Alpsoy and Hamit Çöklü, who were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment in a Hizbullah case, on the grounds that “they have chronic illnesses”. Turkish Hizbullah is also responsible for the torture and murders of hundreds of civilians in the 1990s.

The Erdogan regime’s support for Islamic terror groups such as Hamas and ISIS (Islamic State) is also well-documented. His regime reportedly participated in the oil business with ISIS, dispatched arms to jihadists, and allowed ISIS members to pass through Turkey on their way to fight in Syria and Iraq. In August 2014, an ISIS commander told the Washington Post: “Most of the fighters who joined us at the beginning of the war came via Turkey, as did our equipment and supplies.”

Erdogan’s regime also allowed Hamas to engage in money laundering, granted Hamas terrorists Turkish passports, let them open bank accounts and run offices in Turkey.

According to the website Double Cheque:

“It seems that Hamas has chosen to manage its secret investment portfolio in Turkey because of the weak financial system in Turkey, which enables Hamas to hide its money laundering activity and tax violations from the regulatory bodies.”

The late journalist Burak Bekdil reported in 2014:

“Erdogan has never hidden that he is ideologically a next of kin to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Hamas’s overseas command center happens to be based in Turkey. Erdogan has been Hamas’s staunchest (non-Hamas) cheerleader in the last decade, and the Brotherhood’s key regional ally. Press reports say that Turkey has recently welcomed in the Brotherhood’s top brass, who were expelled on Sept. 13 from their five-million-star hotels in Qatar. Ankara has not denied that it is offering a safe haven to the leaders of the Islamist organization.”

Israel’s police and the Shin Bet internal security service announced on April 10 that they had uncovered a terror financing network linked to Hamas members in Turkey.

Meanwhile, in a ten-day offensive in Syria in December 2024, the al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), conquered Damascus and toppled the Assad regime in Syria.

Ties between Turkey and HTS run deep: Turkey and HTS both been have been occupying and exploiting parts of northwest Syria since at least 2017.

Erdogan reportedly provided assistance to the HTS during its December advance to Damascus, in the form of arms and by allowing the terror group to run a key border crossing in northwest Syria. Since HTS took over Syria, jihadist massacres against the members of the Alawite minority, and the persecution of Syrian Christians, have skyrocketed.

In 1999, Turkey was granted “candidate status” by the European Union and in 2005, began negotiations for EU accession. Will the EU executive take action to help secure the release of detained and abused mayors, politicians, dissenters and journalists in Turkey, so they can carry out their professional work without unwarranted governmental pressure, violations and censorship? How, otherwise, can the EU seriously consider Turkey’s candidacy? Meanwhile, do Europeans really want the possibility of up to 87 million more Turkish citizens flooding Europe?

Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.

[1] The names of the democratically elected HDP mayors imprisoned in Turkey, as released by the press office of HDP, include Hakkari Municipality Co-Mayor, Mehmet Sıddık Akış, Co-Mayors of Akdeniz Municipality, Hoşyar Sarıyıldız and Nuriye Arslan, Former Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor, Adnan Selçuk Mızraklı, Former Hakkari Municipality Co-Mayor, Cihan Karaman, Former Karayazi Municipality Co-Mayor of Erzurum, Melike Goksu, Former Co-Mayor of Yüksekova, Remziye Yasar, Former Co-Mayor of Iğdır, Yasar Akkus, Former Halfeli Municipality Co-Mayor of Iğdır, Hasan Safa, Former Van Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor, Bekir Kaya, Former Co-Mayor of Siirt Eruh Municipality, Huseyin Kilic, Former Co-Mayor of Bitlis Yolalan Municipality, Felemez Aydın, Former Bozova Municipality Co-Mayor of Urfa, Zeynel Taş, Former Co-Mayor of Muş Malazgirt Municipality, Halis Coskun and Former Co-Mayor of Adıyaman Coal Municipality, Hüseyin Yuka.

Officials who have been imprisoned due to trumped-up, terrorism related charges include, Leyla Güven, HDP Members of Parliament for Hakkari, Semra Güzel, an MP from Diyarbakir, Dilek Yağlı, HDP Women’s Assembly member, Pervin Oduncu, member of the HDP Central Executive Board, Ali Ürküt, a member of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), Nazmi Gür, former HDP MP from Van, Alp Altınörs, the Deputy Co-Chairman of the HDP and a member of the Central Executive Board, and Günay Kubilay, HDP’s Deputy Co-Chair for Economy, Agriculture and Social Policies and Party Spokesperson, among others.

[2] According to a 2017 public statement by the HDP party, since July 2016, 1,478 Kurdish politicians — including 78 democratically-elected mayors – have been arrested.

According to a 2019 report prepared by the HDP, since 2015, 530 people have been detained in police operations targeting the party and its components, and 6,000 people, including 750 members and executives of the party, jailed. In addition, 89 provincial co-chairs, 193 district co-chairs and a town’s co-chair of the HDP were arrested since. The report noted:

“Following the March 31 [2019] elections, 17 of our co-mayors were arrested and trustees were appointed to 28 of our municipalities. Since July 2015, 16 of our MPs, 7 Central Executive Board members, 21 Party Assembly members, and over 750 provincial and district administrators have been arrested, along with our Co-Chairs. Currently, 7 of our MPs are under arrest. In addition, 11 MPs have had their MP status revoked. 93 municipality co-mayors, including deputy mayors, have been arrested and trustees have been appointed to 84 municipalities. As a result of the political genocide operations conducted since February 2017, a total of 5,098 people have been detained. 14 natural, 62 elected, and a total of 76 of our delegates have been arrested. Currently, 26th Term Deputies Figen Yüksekdağ, Selahattin Demirtaş, Çağlar Demirel, İdris Baluken, Gülser Yıldırım, Selma Irmak, Abdullah Zeydan are being held hostage [as prisoners].”