RTÜK threatens TV stations over “boycott” broadcasting; police officer who attacked Sinan Aygül dismissed from his job; Eylem Babayiğit's programs cited as crime

RTÜK threatens TV stations over “boycott” broadcasting

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), which had imposed heavy fines on television channels that broadcast the protests started with the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu, this time threatened the channels regarding the boycott calls.

RTÜK President Ebubekir Şahin, in a post on the social media platform X account said, “Channels and broadcasts that call for a boycott and support the boycott are being monitored by our monitoring and evaluation experts, and the necessary action will be taken.”

Şahin claimed that “Turkey's values and achievements are being tried to be shaken” with the boycott calls: “The efforts of some circles, which have lost credibility in the society, to damage our unity and solidarity with manipulative discourses will never achieve their goal. We will continue to encourage broadcasting that respects national and moral sensitivities, and we will maintain our determination to protect the strong media structure of our country.”

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel had announced that they had decided to boycott media organizations and affiliated companies that did not cover the protests and rallies by saying “Those who do not see this square will see the bottom.” While the CHP's boycott decision was widely welcomed by the society, citizens called for a complete stop in consumption for one day on Wednesday, 2 April. CHP had also announced its support for this call.

Police officer who attacked Sinan Aygül dismissed from profession

The High Disciplinary Board of the Ministry of Interior decided to dismiss the police officer, one of the two people under administrative investigation in connection with the attack on journalist Sinan Aygül, President of Bitlis Journalists' Association.

Two bodyguards of former Tatvan Mayor Mehmet Emin Geylani, one of whom was a police officer, had attacked journalist Sinan Aygül in Tatvan district of Bitlis on 17 June 2023.

As a result of the administrative investigation conducted by the Ministry of Interior, Kaplan was found guilty of the following offenses under Article 8 of the Law No. 7068 on Disciplinary Provisions for General Law Enforcement Officials misusing his authority or influence to benefit himself or others or for reasons such as hatred and friendship, and he was found to have committed the acts of refraining from helping security officers who asked for help in the line of duty without a justifiable reason, or not taking the necessary initiative to follow up a crime he knew or saw, or to apprehend the offender.

On these grounds, Kaplan was dismissed from his profession twice.

As for the other attacker, the Ministry of Interior sent the file to the municipality and requested an administrative investigation to be conducted by the municipality.

Elif Bayburt and Nisa Sude Demirel released

Etkin News Agency (ETHA) reporter Elif Bayburt and Evrensel newspaper reporter Nisa Sude Demirel, who were detained in house raids in Istanbul on March 28, were released on 29 March under judicial control measures.

Bayburt and Demirel had been detained for participating in protests in İstanbul against the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu and for reporting on the protests.

They were referred to the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan in the morning. The prosecutor's office referred the journalists to the Criminal Judgeship of Peace with a request for judicial control.

The court released Bayburt and Demirel under judicial control measures.

Eylem Babayiğit's programs cited as crime

The reasoned verdict of the trial in which journalist Eylem Babayiğit was sentenced to prison on charges of “terrorism propaganda” has been announced.

The reasoned verdict, which includes the prosecutor's opinion, claimed that Babayiğit committed the crime of “terrorism propaganda” with her programs.

The verdict also included the following statements of Eylem Babayiğit: “I covered women's agendas, I identified topics related to social problems, I also dealt with environmental problems, I dealt with economic problems. However, among the programs I covered, isolation was put in front of me, the term isolation, for example, in the media, which forms the basis of Turkey's agenda today, there are issues mentioned in all media channels, press and broadcasting institutions, there is a peace process being discussed. While these discussions were taking place, I mentioned this in the programs I did three years ago or three and a half years ago. I asked these questions using my right to ask questions as a journalist. There are several tape recordings. First, Yunus Babayiğit is in Sincan Prison. He is my own brother. Again, during the physical surveillance, images were brought before me, one of them is me having dinner with my own brother, that is it, and apart from that, a photo was taken from a day when I met with my colleagues outside or drank tea and coffee, and it was put in front of me.”

Babayiğit was detained on 22 January and jailed the same day. The first hearing was held on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” at the İstanbul 22nd High Criminal Court on 19 March. The court sentenced Babayiğit to 1 year, 6 months and 22 days in prison for “terrorism propaganda” and ordered her release.

At least 34 journalists and media workers in prison

As of 4 April 2025, there are at least 34 journalists and media workers in pre-trial detention or imprisonment in Turkey.

The full list can be accessed here.