All 38 defendants in the case face up to five years in prison as per Article 107/2 of Turkey’s Capital Market Law if convicted

The trial against Bloomberg journalists Fercan Yalınkılıç and Kerim Karakaya and 36 other people, including journalists Sedef Kabaş, Merdan Yanardağ, Orhan Kalkan and Mustafa Sönmez on the charge of "violating the Capital Market Law" over a report on Turkey’s 2018 currency crisis resumed at the İstanbul 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance on 4 June 2021.

The investigation against Yalınkılıç and Karakaya was billed by the prosecution as “the financial coup attempt investigation.” All 38 defendants in the case face up to five years in prison as per Article 107/2 of Turkey’s Capital Market Law if convicted.

P24 monitored the hearing. Lawyers representing the defendants and those representing the Banking Regulation and Supervision Board (BDDK) and the Capital Markets Board (SPK) attended the hearing.

The presiding judge announced that the court had received the expert report on whether the defendants had acquired any profits through their social media posts or sharing the news report. The expert report said they could not identify any profits acquired by the defendants at the time of the alleged offense.

The lawyer representing SPK told the court they did not agree with the expert report. Defense lawyers requested their clients’ acquittal based on the findings of the expert report.

Issuing an interim ruling, the judge ordered an additional expert report, citing the lack of an assessment in the submitted report concerning the material elements of the charge against Yalınkılıç and Karakaya. The court set 9 July 2021 as the date for the next hearing.

Case background

Bloomberg reporters Karakaya and Yalınkılıç reported on 10 August 2018 that the Turkish banking system had been facing a currency crisis. Karakaya and Yalınkılıç cited the talks they had with the executives of several banks in their report, stating that two banks were not accepting foreign currency; that one bank could not fulfill the request of a customer who wanted to withdraw 5,000 US dollars; that there was a significant increase in requests for withdrawals from foreign currency accounts; and that the BDDK had held a meeting with top level executives of all banks operating in Turkey.

Following the broadcast, the BDDK issued a press release on 11 August 2018, stating that it did not hold any meetings with banks and announced that it would launch legal action against “fake news.” Bloomberg also reported on this statement on its website. However, the BDDK filed a complaint with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on 14 August 2018 regarding Bloomberg’s report.

Launching an investigation based on BDDK’s complaint, the prosecutor's office pressed charges against Karakaya, Yalınkılıç and 36 other people who commented on the report on social media. The prosecutor alleged that the suspects "attempted to undermine the stability of the Turkish economy."