Journalist İdris Yılmaz gave a statement at Erciş Police Station on 9 November on a charge of “violating the confidentiality of communications” over an Instagram post dated 6 November about a corruption investigation into the Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation in the Erciş district of Van. Six people, including foundation director Sefa Kaya, were detained in the investigation into allegations of bid rigging, bribery and embezzlement. Yılmaz said neither he nor the institutions where he worked had been notified of a confidentiality order. He said he did not know suspects Mehmet Hanifi Arlı and Emre Dursun and had not directed posts in which they tagged him. He said the Erciş District Governor’s Office described his post as “information pollution” and asked him to remove it, while he requested that accurate information be disclosed and did not remove the post. Yılmaz handed screenshots of the correspondence to police, denied the accusations and said he had fulfilled his duty to inform the public and was not obliged to reveal his news source.
9 November 2026
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