Pressure on opposition media in Turkey is becoming visible again, following a line that stretches from the seizure of Ulus's assets in 1953 to the appointment of a trustee for TELE1. Media organizations that have been subjected to closures, trusteeships, and seizures in different periods show that legal and administrative interventions continue in similar forms

ELİF AKGÜL

In December 1953, after the Menderes government passed a decision in Parliament to seize the assets of the CHP, the seized assets included the newspaper Ulus, which was opposed to the government at the time. In the documentary Demirkırat, signed by Mehmet Ali Birand, Can Dündar, and Bülent Çaplı, Altan Öymen, a reporter for Ulus at the time, recounts, “Our departure was somewhat dramatic.” They were told, “You cannot even take a pen,” so Faruk Taşkıran wrote “Godless ones, we will be back” on the walls of Ulus' second floor with chalk. [1]

Using the law to render opposition media inoperable is not unique to today. But the accounts of journalists from organizations that were either closed by a Prime Ministerial decision or de facto shut down by the appointment of trustees are similar to Taşkıran's feelings.

Let's fast forward to 24 October 2025, exactly 72 years after the seizure of Ulus' assets.

The stick of the new era: Trustees for media companies

A trustee was appointed to TELE1 after Merdan Yanardağ, the channel's general broadcast manager, was detained as part of a “spying” investigation targeting Ekrem İmamoğlu, the imprisoned mayor of İstanbul and the CHP's presidential candidate. While the channel continued its news broadcast, the trustees entered the building and the live broadcast was switched to a tape broadcast.

Former TELE1 anchorman Murat Taylan interprets the trusteeship as “an intervention against everyone working at TELE1, silencing the voices of the employees.” Taylan said, “Because what set TELE1 apart from other channels was that its programmers had a platform where they could freely express their ideas, not bound by ‘prompters,’ i.e., pre-approved scripts.”

Not long before the appointment of a trustee to TELE1, just a month earlier, trustees were also appointed to the Can Media Group, and thus to HaberTürk, Show TV, and Bloomberg HT. The investigations into the companies focused on allegations of “forming a criminal organization,” “smuggling,” “fraud,” and “money laundering.” İbrahim Paşalı, a columnist for pro-government Yeni Şafak daily, who had previously been appointed by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) to manage Flash TV and Ekotürk, and Hakan Hastaoğlu, a columnist for pro-government Sabah newspaper, were brought in to head the channels. When the news that a trustee had been appointed to HaberTürk hit the news sites, Mesut Yar, who hosts the morning program on the channel, was live on air. While all eyes were on what Yar would say, the experienced presenter announced the trustee news live on air an hour after the news broke.

Yar said, "I would never leave your questions unanswered. There is something that has been asked of me since this morning. We have also started to broadcast it in the subtitles. As you have read, TMSF has seized control of companies affiliated with Can Holding, and arrest warrants have been issued for eight people. I assure you with my honor that I know nothing else beyond this. If I learn anything else, I will share it with each and every one of you. I am faced with your questions, and the only answer I can give is nothing beyond the facts you read in the subtitles." He then continued his broadcast. [2]

On the other hand, the same was not true for TELE1. The trustee appointed to the channel first cut the broadcast and then aired a penguin documentary reminiscent of the one aired on CNN Türk during the Gezi protests, which caused protests in Turkish press history. In the following days, Yanardağ was arrested and sent to prison, while some of the employees announced their resignation.

Kurdish press, which was shut down in the 1990s and reopened under new names

The appointment of trustees to media organizations is actually a new practice. The first Turkish-language daily newspaper in the Kurdish press, Özgür Gündem, began publication on 30 May 1992, with the headline “Egemenlik kayıtsız şartsız DGM'nindir” (Sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the State Security Court.) The newspaper, which was subject to countless closure and confiscation orders, continued to be published under the names Güncel, Yaşamda Gündem, Haftaya Bakış, Öteki Bakış, Yeni Bakış, Alternatif, Gelecek, Özgür Ülke, Gerçek, and Günlük. [3] The newspaper, which continued to be published under the name “Yeniden Özgür Gündem” (Free Agenda Again) on 2 September 2002, had 315 lawsuits filed against its 541 issues when it ceased publication on 28 February 2004. Of these 315 lawsuits, 174 resulted in closure orders totaling 293 days and millions of Turkis Lira in fines. [4] The Özgür Gündem newspaper resumed publication under the same name 17 years later on 4 April 2011; it was shut down on 16 August 2016, by a decision of the İstanbul 8th Criminal Court of Peace.

4 October 2016: Police at the doors of media organizations

The year 2016, when Özgür Gündem was shut down again, was a critical period for the media. A state of emergency was declared following the coup attempt on 15 July 2016. From 20 July to 31 December 2016, a total of 178 media outlets were shut down.[5]

The number of media outlets shut down during this period was not limited to those alleged to be affiliated with the Fethullah Gülen community, the perpetrator of the 15 July coup attempt. In addition to these organizations, leftist, socialist, and Kurdish media outlets were also shut down under the same provisions.

One of them was İMC TV. On 4 October 2016, a large number of police and RTÜK officials came to Flatofis, where İMC TV was located, to cut off the broadcast. At that moment, Eyüp Burç, the broadcast coordinator of İMC TV, who was live on air in the studio, reacted by saying, "Why are you covering your faces? May hell be their reward.” Eyüp Burç, the Broadcast Coordinator of İMC TV, described the process as follows:

“At that time, we were broadcasting on Hotbird because we had been removed from Türksat at the request of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor. Apparently, such a request was possible. Therefore, they could not shut us down from the center. They had to come directly to the channel and cut the broadcast from the control room. We knew they were coming to shut us down after Hayat TV. When we heard they were coming to the channel, we blocked the direct access route to the control room. We said, ‘Let's have them pass through the studio during the live broadcast.’ Because we had decided to broadcast the shutdown process live. We broadcast the shutdown of Hayat TV live from Diyarbakır. After us, they went to TV10, but of course, we couldn't broadcast them because they had shut us down."

On the day İMC TV was shut down, another team was at the door of Özgür Radyo (Free Radio.) Journalist Semra Çelebi, who was a program director at Özgür Radyo at the time and also the chair of the Özgür Radyo Board of Directors, explains that the news of the closure was circulating as a rumor but that they had not received any official notification:

"When the news came, we started our shift at the radio station. This lasted about 10 days. We were constantly on air, doing solidarity programs. We realized that the rumor was true on the morning of 4 October, when they first went to Hayat TV and İMC TV. Then they came to Özgür Radyo. At the meeting we had with our friends, we decided to criticize the fact that no official notification had even been made. We would not open the door. Because Özgür Radyo was a space that needed to be defended for us. When they came to the door, we asked if they had a notice. They said there was no written notice, that it was a decision by the Prime Minister's Office. We said that if there was no written notice, we would not open the door. Upon this, they broke in with a battering ram. They beat our friends and took them into custody."

The coup attempt and “seizure of property”

Following the declaration of a state of emergency after 15 July, in addition to closing media organizations, a method of seizing their property was implemented to ensure they could not reopen, in other words, to deal them an economic blow.

Pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 2 of Decree Law No. 668 issued under the state of emergency, the movable property and all assets, receivables, rights, documents, and records belonging to these closed institutions were deemed to have been transferred to the Treasury free of charge; immovable property was automatically registered in the land registry in the name of the Treasury, free of any restrictions or encumbrances; and any claims against the Treasury for any debts of the closed organizations were barred.

In other words, not only were the broadcasts shut down, but their buildings, cameras, equipment, and microphones were also confiscated.

“İMC TV had zero equipment. It had a television infrastructure worth millions of dollars. They sold all of it for next to nothing,” says Eyüp Burç.

Semra Çelebi explains that some of the assets seized from Özgür Radyo were given to the state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT): "As if TRT had no assets of its own, our old mixers and microphones were distributed in this way. Among those who came with the police during the raid were people from Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) and TRT. This was very sad because, after all, no matter what, they are our colleagues, even if we are in different places. It was bizarre for them to come with the police during the raid and say, ‘Let's take this to our institution, let's take that to our institution.’ Such dialogues took place, and those assets were sold off. It is already very difficult for an independent media outlet to acquire such equipment over the years. We really gave those items with tears in our eyes, or rather, we were forced to give them away."

The lawsuits regarding the closure decision and the seizure of the property of both İMC TV and Özgür Radyo have been ongoing for nine years.

Semra Çelebi recounts that after signing the seizure order on 4 October 2016, she was detained like her friends: "After being released from detention, we tuned into Özgür Radyo's frequency, 95.1. Something called Ülke Radyo came on, and hymns were being sung. There was no legal process, and a pro-government press and radio station had already taken over our frequency."

“They did not shut down TELE1 like they did with İMC TV, but by changing the broadcasting policy with the trustee, the channel was as good as being shut down,” says Eyüp Burç. Murat Taylan also says, “We were never a team that read from a teleprompter. Therefore, when the trustee came, we objected and resigned because we anticipated the text he would put in front of us, the new news language he would want to impose.”

The approaches of Ulus newspaper reporter Faruk Taşkıran, TELE1 news anchor Murat Taylan, Özgür Radyo programmer Semra Çelebi, and İMC TV Broadcast Coordinator Eyüp Burç to the closure, seizure, and blackout decisions targeting the media organizations they worked for are very similar.

“They are seizing something that gives meaning to your life, and they will sell it...”

Taylan shares the same sorrow as Taşkıran:

"I started working at TELE1 with Merdan six months after this television station was established. We created so much at TELE1 over eight years, with our teeth and nails... I always did this work while working at a second job. While making a living as an insurance agent, I fought for TELE1 to grow and survive. They destroyed a television channel that I was part of every day for eight years, like raising a child. They are taking over a place that gives meaning to your life, that shapes your life. The camera, microphone, sound recording device, everything we acquired through our sweat, our labor, working for very low wages, is now in the hands of a stranger, and they will sell it. They will sell our labor. This is what it does to a person. So, I am very sad."

The closure of both İMC TV and Özgür Radyo has caused significant losses in the Turkish media.

Semra Çelebi says, “I worked at Özgür Radyo for 17 years in various roles, from reporter to general broadcast manager,” adding that the radio station's largest audience consisted of workers, garment workshops, and especially prisons. “When they shut down the radio station, it was a huge blow, but the listeners were the most affected. We tried to continue broadcasting online, but it did not work. Because our listeners were the workshops, the prisoners,” states Çelebi.

“The concept of democratic media was disrupted”

Eyüp Burç also explains that the “democratic media” approach pioneered by İMC TV in the Turkish press has returned to the official discourse:

"Although our political stances differed at İMC TV, we shared a common worldview. We were a group of friends united on the basis of democracy and human rights. There were democratic friends, friends from the left and Kurdish press. We defined our principles as the ‘democratic media movement,’ and this broadcasting policy was very successful. There was the ‘peace process’ at the time. We were discussing the permanence of peace. Then, when the conflict began, we explained why peace was necessary. At that time, the Doğan Media Group published the ‘Peace Journalism Declaration.’ I even jokingly asked Ferhat Boratav from CNN Türk at the time, ‘Are you watching İMC TV?’ He said, ‘It is always on in our house.’ After the channel was shut down, this movement ceased. The Turkish media reverted to its old state-oriented settings. Today, at İlke TV, we are again trying to break this mindset."

Although TELE1 continues under the same name but with a completely different chemistry, TELE1 employees are also seeking to start afresh. Murat Taylan recalls that they said “We will not surrender” in their press statements:

"When you suffer an injustice, a reaction of resistance arises. Therefore, our main goal now is to establish a new television channel. We want to send the message 'You cannot destroy us. We will not surrender to you' to those carrying out these operations and, more importantly, we want to continue our broadcasting mission at TELE1. In other words, we want to be a source of hope for the people and keep their hope alive."

Opposition media again, once more

Taylan was right. Journalists who resigned from TELE1 announced that they would start a new broadcast called TELE2 HABER.

Ulus newspaper was closed in 1953 but resumed broadcasting in 1955 under the name Yeni Ulus. Özgür Gündem was closed, but the tradition of Özgür Basın continues with Yeni Yaşam. IMC TV was shut down, its assets seized, but the same broadcasting philosophy continues today on İlke TV. Media organizations that have been effectively “terminated” by the authorities through closure, seizure of assets, or changes in broadcasting policy imposed by trustees somehow find a way forward.

Sources:

[1] Demirkırat Belgeseli, M. A. Birand, C. Dündar, B. Çaplı, Milliyet Gazetesi Yayınları

[2] https://www.diken.com.tr/haberturk-sunucusu-mesut-yar-tmsf-can-holdinge-el-koydu-baska-bilgim-yok/

[3] https://bianet.org/haber/ozgur-basin-in-tutsak-yillari-160894

[4] https://bianet.org/haber/yeniden-ozgur-gundem-yayinini-durdurdu-30363

[5] https://bianet.org/haber/kapatilan-basin-yayin-radyo-televizyon-ve-haber-ajanslari-182458