The court has ruled to extend the detention of Merdan Yanardağ, Ekrem İmamoğlu, Necati Özkan, and Hüseyin Gün, who are on trial on charges of “political espionage,” and has rejected requests to halt the sale of TELE1

TANSU PİŞKİN, ISTANBUL

The first hearing in the case against imprisoned former TELE1 Editor-in-Chief Merdan Yanardağ, who is on trial alongside the detained former Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and İmamoğlu's campaign director Necati Özkan on charges of “political espionage” was held at the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court on 11-12-13 May 2026. The hearing took place in the Courtrooms at the Marmara Prison Complex.

During the second session of the hearing on 12 May, which was monitored by P24, journalist Merdan Yanardağ began his defense by referencing İmamoğlu, who had presented his defense during the first session of the trial: “I hope and expect that at the end of these trials, a president will emerge from Silivri to lead Turkey. He said, ‘We are not after office,’ but this has now become a matter of honor.”

Yanardağ continued:

“We are facing an indictment that criminalizes democracy, democratic rights and freedoms, and fundamental civic rights. It criminalizes them. We are facing an indictment that seeks to criminalize participating in elections, winning elections, broadcasting on television, and engaging in political criticism. It considers winning an even greater crime.

“The spirit of the indictment is clear on its final page. Who signed it anyway? Can Tuncay, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Istanbul at the time. Where is he now? He is a Deputy Minister. What is a Deputy Minister? A political office. So we are facing a Deputy Chief Prosecutor who has defected to the AKP, and his signature is on this indictment.

“I suggest to those who wrote this indictment that instead of drafting indictments, they should participate in the MasterChef program. The prosecutor’s case lacks the necessary grounds for espionage; they are making an omelet without eggs. The purpose of this indictment is to seize control of TELE1.”

“TELE1 did not bow down” 

Yanardağ, who presented to the court the open calls for support for TELE1 made during live broadcasts and on social media, stated that Seher Alaçam, who is the subject of the indictment, was one of the tens of thousands of people supporting TELE1, and said, “Viewers can ask us questions, but they cannot give orders.” Yanardağ continued:

“This indictment claims that, acting on the demands of Hüseyin Gün, who is alleged to be a spy, I carried out a perception operation in favor of Ekrem İmamoğlu, and İmamoğlu won the election. I also ensured that Özgür Özel won the CHP convention. Nonsense… I enjoy crime fiction; I read detective novels. But I have never seen espionage carried out on a live broadcast or through a television channel.

“What secret documents and information exchanges took place? Which secret documents were seized? Which ones constitute state secrets? A Cold War-era mindset persists in Turkey. A legal understanding that Europe abandoned in the 1950s and 60s... The Western bloc tried to expand the concept of espionage to neutralize citizens they believed were sympathetic to the Soviet and socialist blocs. But it did not work. They abolished it after the 1950s. The mindset behind this indictment is a Cold War mindset. It draws from the doctrine of indirect warfare that regards a segment of its own citizens as enemies.

“I believe the AKP government has reached the end of its political and historical lifespan and is resorting to various maneuvers to prolong it. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) investigation, the absolute nullity case against the CHP, and the espionage case were all initiated for this purpose. Because in a media environment where TELE1 is on the air, you cannot easily carry out this operation.”

He recalled his 2023 imprisonment

Recalling the case in which he was imprisoned pending trial in 2023 over his remarks about PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, Yanardağ said, “Either the state should apologize to me, or it should arrest Devlet Bahçeli. I had only said that Öcalan should have the same rights as all other prisoners. He went further and said, ‘Let him come to Parliament.’”

Returning to the indictment, Yanardağ argued that the prosecutor was attempting to broaden the concept of “espionage,” stating, “There is no need for information from a foreign country or a foreign organization, but espionage exists. How is that possible? Is this the prosecutor of the Republic, or the prosecutor of a political group?” Yanardağ continued:

“In the indictment, the program we did with former [CHP] Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is presented as a television event carried out under the direction of a spy ring. How did we do that? We cornered Mr. Kemal. They found our questions ‘eager’ and claimed we created a favorable perception for Ekrem İmamoğlu. I swear, I cannot fathom the prosecutor’s office’s love for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. They are as thick as thieves. They are trying to protect Mr. Kemal with all their might.

“I am a patriotic journalist, a left-leaning journalist. Attempting to accuse patriotism of espionage or treason is the ugliest slander that could be leveled against us. A regime established by America and collaborating with imperialism will accuse us of espionage. Get lost! Our friends kicked their own chairs as they faced the gallows. You will not slander us.”

The sale of TELE1

Selin Nakipoğlu, one of Yanardağ’s lawyers, stated: “The broadcasts my client made as a journalist and general manager of a television channel have been completely removed from the scope of freedom of expression and journalistic activities; in the indictment, they have been portrayed as the media arm of espionage activities. 

“The clear, precise, easily understandable, and predictable provisions of our criminal code have been completely ignored, and an attempt has been made to include four individuals in an espionage allegation. Yet, the duty of public prosecutors is not to invent crimes without legal basis.”

Nakipoğlu noted that the elements of the crime of “political espionage,” as defined in Article 328/1 of the Turkish Penal Code, were not present, stating, “This provision is substantive, yet the indictment lacks any substance.”

Referring to the appointment of a trustee to TELE1 alongside Yanardağ’s detention, Nakipoğlu recalled that the channel, transferred to the Saving Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), is set to be put up for sale on 17 June, and continued:

“The indictment requests the confiscation of TELE1, and this has moved beyond being a trial targeting Merdan Yanardağ personally; it has directly targeted press freedom, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, and the very existence of a media outlet, turning this process into a media operation. Moreover, steps toward the sale have been taken even while the trial is still ongoing. We are facing a situation that will truly go down in our legal history as a dark stain.

“For this reason, this case occupies a very different place in the history of law and the press. For Merdan Yanardağ, the issue is not merely a trial for espionage. It also involves a violation of press freedom and property rights.

“Criminal law must serve as a guarantee of justice. Yet the principles of the personal nature of punishment and the principle of certainty, which are the most fundamental requirements of our criminal law, have been completely disregarded in this indictment. There is a fabricated coherence in the case file. In rejecting this, it is a matter of justice to demand, first and foremost, the release of the defendant and ultimately his acquittal, in the name of protecting fundamental rights and freedoms, restoring the right to property, and establishing justice.”

Request to hear witnesses

Bilgütay Hakkı Durna, one of Yanardağ’s lawyers, noted in his defense that the TMSF had been appointed as a trustee for TELE1, reminding the court that while the TMSF can be appointed as a trustee for a period of five years for certain crimes, “espionage” is not among those crimes, and therefore, the appointment of the TMSF as a trustee is clearly contrary to the law, and he demanded that the decision appointing the TMSF as a trustee be immediately revoked.

Lawyer Durna also noted that they had requests to call a witness, but the witness could not be present at this hearing due to a traffic accident; they still wished to bring the witness to the hearing but requested additional time to ensure this could be done at an appropriate time due to the witness’s health condition.

The prosecutor requested the continuation of detention

In their interim opinion presented during the third session of the hearing on 13 May, the prosecutor stated, “Considering the existence of concrete evidence indicating strong suspicion of the crime attributed to the defendants, the nature and characteristics of the impugned crime, the minimum and maximum penalties prescribed by law, and the legally permissible duration of detention, the current detention is proportionate; evidence-gathering procedures have not yet been completed, and judicial control measures would be insufficient at this stage,” and submitted his interim opinion recommending that the defendants’ detention be continued.

The prosecutor also requested that the defendants’ and their defense lawyers’ motions be rejected, assessing that they would not add any new information to the case file.

İmamoğlu: Release Yanardağ and Özkan

Ekrem İmamoğlu, who presented his defense against the opinion, stated, “This indictment is a legal atrocity; it was written to fabricate a new charge that would tarnish Ekrem İmamoğlu’s reputation, issue a new arrest warrant for Necati Özkan, take over Merdan Yanardağ’s channel, and even, while we are at it, sell it off.”

In his request in response to the indictment, İmamoğlu said, “Necati Özkan and Merdan Yanardağ must be released. Please put an end to this agony, this disgrace.”

Yanardağ calls for “contributing to social peace”

Journalist Yanardağ, presenting his defense against the indictment, argued that the indictment was prepared based on ideological judgments, stating, “An American-aligned government and the collaborators of imperialism are attempting to accuse this country’s patriots, leftists, and republicans of espionage,” and continued:

“This fifth-rate conspiracy has two objectives. The first is to seize control of TELE1 and silence me and my colleagues. The second is to eliminate Mr. Ekrem İmamoğlu; to tarnish and paralyze the 2019 and 2024 elections. But they will not succeed. This is impossible. There can be no social peace where there is no justice.

“Now, Mr. Prosecutor, you claim in your indictment that evidence has not been gathered. How could they not have been collected? Are you kidding me? You have deprived the person you victimized of their freedom, and worse, you have imprisoned people by abusing the state power entrusted to you. Look, there is no substantive difference between staging a coup with the weapons the people have given you and staging a coup by abusing the legal authority the people have granted you. In that regard, your court stands at a crucial historical crossroads. It will either serve social peace once again—because without justice in a country, peace can never be established—or it will not.”

Finally, Yanardağ, who stated that he rejected the opinion as is, concluded his defense with the words, “My request is that you contribute to social peace.”

The court announced its decision

The court decided to send a letter to the Presidency of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), inquiring whether any reports or findings exist regarding the defendants’ engagement in espionage activities under Article 328 of the Turkish Penal Code, taking into account the dates of the alleged offenses.

Additionally, the court requested a detailed assessment from the MIT regarding whether the digital data allegedly belonging to defendant Hüseyin Gün—specifically email addresses with the .ibb.gov.tr domain and associated domain usernames and passwords—constituted “information that must remain confidential for the sake of national security or domestic and foreign political interests” under Article 328/1 of the Turkish Penal Code.

A formal request was sent to the Presidency of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, asking for the IP addresses belonging to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the relevant server providers to be reported; and for the user IP logs, access date and time information, and log records of users who logged into the İBB.gov.tr systems to be submitted.

Additionally, from the MIT Presidency and the Istanbul TEM Branch Directorate; verification of whether the email addresses, usernames, and passwords listed in the indictment are genuine; determination of whether the relevant individuals were employed at the İBB during the alleged crime dates; and a detailed report on the examination of system access logs, email sessions, security logs, VPN, and Active Directory connections, as well as findings regarding unauthorized access or data breaches.

A warrant for the compulsory appearance of witnesses Derya Yavuzcu, Ümit Deniz Alacan, and Zeynep Şen was issued; furthermore, it was decided that Lale Uğurza would be summoned as a witness at the next hearing, in accordance with the request of Merdan Yanardağ’s defense counsel.

The court ruled to continue the detention of the detained defendants Ekrem İmamoğlu, Hüseyin Gün, Merdan Yanardağ, and Necati Özkan, citing the following reasons: there is concrete evidence indicating a strong suspicion of guilt regarding the charges against them; there are witnesses who have not yet been heard; the evidence-gathering process has not been completed; and judicial supervision measures would be insufficient.

The court also reviewed requests regarding the trusteeship and sale process of TELE1. Stating that the actions of the administrative trustee fall “within the scope of the trustee’s legal authority and responsibility,” the court ruled that no separate decision was necessary at this stage. Thus, the trusteeship and sale process regarding TELE1 continued. 

The trial was postponed until 6 July 2026.

Background of the case

TELE1 Editor-in-Chief Merdan Yanardağ was arrested on 24 October, 2025, as part of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. In a statement, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that TELE1 Editor-in-Chief Merdan Yanardağ had been “detained on charges of espionage” and that searches had been conducted at his home and workplace. It was also reported that police from the Counter-Terrorism Unit (TEM) arrived at TELE1’s news center in Seyrantepe, Istanbul, early in the morning to conduct a search.

Later that evening, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that the Istanbul Criminal Court of First Instance had ruled to appoint the Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) as a receiver for ABC Radio Television and Digital Broadcasting Inc., the owner of the TELE1 channel.

Yanardağ was imprisoned pending trial on 27 October by the criminal court of first instance on charges of “espionage.”

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Yanardağ, imprisoned Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, İmamoğlu’s advisor and campaign director Necati Özkan, and Hüseyin Gün on charges of “political espionage.” In the indictment dated 4 February 2026, İmamoğlu was designated as the “crime ring leader.” Documents seized from Hüseyin Gün also formed the core of the indictment. The prosecution stated that the investigation began following a tip received by the 112 Emergency Call Center. The person who made the tip alleged that Gün was conducting espionage activities on behalf of Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and that he conducted his communications via encrypted phones. However, the investigation against Seher Alaçam, who was alleged to have given money to Merdan Yanardağ and whom Hüseyin Gün referred to as “mommy”, was closed with a decision of no prosecution due to Alaçam’s death.