YENİ Parti Deputy Chair Utku Çakırözer published his October Press Freedom Report. According to the report, 11 journalists were detained, six were arrested, journalists appeared before judges 50 times and access was blocked to 867 X accounts in October. Those arrested included Şaban Sevinç, Mustafa Balcı, Murat Ağırel, İsmail Arı, Derya Okatan and Hasan Güraksu. İsmail Saymaz was placed under house arrest. Bahadır Özgür, Ercüment İşleyen and Tuğba Nur Çelik were also detained over their reporting. Investigations were launched into Mehmet Ali Güller, Batuhan Serim, Serap Belovacıklı, Gülnur Saydam, Rabia Önver and Ardan Zentürk. Compensation lawsuits were filed over broadcasts concerning the fund investigation, seeking 600,000 lira from BirGün TV and Timur Soykan, 500,000 lira from Şaban Sevinç, and 600,000 lira from BirGün newspaper and Zafer Arapkirli. Police entered Halk TV’s headquarters on 14 October; a trustee was appointed to the channel. RTÜK imposed administrative fines of three percent on Sözcü TV and Koza TV over broadcasts concerning the fund investigation and imposed an additional fine on Sözcü TV over commentary on Ağırel’s arrest. TELE2 Haber shut down because it could not afford the license fee, and Cem TV ended its broadcasts. Manşetiz management dismissed 12 journalists who demanded unpaid wages. T24’s Press Advertisement Agency advertisements were cut. Access blocks targeted accounts belonging to news organizations and journalists, accounts whose usernames had been changed, and reports concerning public officials. Çakırözer argued that reporting on rights violations in the fund investigation and the “My Family Is Safe” operation had been blocked and called for the release of jailed journalists.
4 November 2026
BirGün