Academic released after 190 days in prison; Welat Agency reporter detained while covering protest in Şırnak; Yeniçağ editor detained over social media post about drug operation; Court of Cassation overturns sentence given to journalist Özgür Boğatekin

Aslı Aydemir released after 190 days in prison over reaction to Leman protest

Aslı Aydemir, an academic and psychologist, was released pending trial on 14 January 2026 after spending 190 days in prison. She had been detained following her reaction to a group of conservative religious men who gathered in central Istanbul to protest the satirical magazine Leman.

Aydemir is standing trial on charges of “resisting the police” and “intentional injury.” Two initial indictments filed against her were returned by the court due to insufficient evidence. A third indictment, submitted on 17 December 2025 and later accepted, alleges that Aydemir struck M.Ö., a deputy office chief at the Istanbul Police Department’s Security Branch, with a glass, and seeks her conviction for “resisting to prevent the performance of duty.”

The case stems from controversy surrounding Leman’s 26 June issue, which became the focus of widespread public debate after claims circulated that a cartoon depicted the prophets Muhammad and Moses, an allegation the magazine’s staff have firmly denied. Tensions escalated on the evening of 30 June 2025, when six Leman employees, including cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan, were taken into custody following a social media campaign targeting the publication. A crowd gathered outside the magazine’s office on İstiklal Avenue, hurling stones and chanting religious slogans. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya shared footage of the detentions on his official social media account. All detainees were later released pending trial. No members of the protesting group were taken into custody.

Aydemir was present at the scene that evening and responded to threats and slogans directed at the magazine. She was arrested at her home on 4 July 2025 and remanded in custody on the same charges. Her first hearing is scheduled for 12 February 2026 before the Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of First Instance.

The Court of Cassation overturns sentence given to journalist Özgür Boğatekin for “insulting the president”

The Court of Cassation unanimously decided to overturn the prison sentence given to journalist Özgür Boğatekin for “insulting the president” given over his social media posts. The high court, which deemed the posts to be “strong criticism,” stated that imposing a prison sentence instead of acquittal was contrary to the law.

A case was filed against journalist Boğatekin in 2015 on charges of “insulting the president” over his social media posts targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In the case heard at the Gerger Criminal Court of First Instance, Boğatekin was sentenced to 1 year 2 months and 17 days in prison.

Boğatekin's lawyers appealed the first-instance court's decision. However, the Gaziantep Regional Court of Appeals, 3rd Criminal Chamber, decided to dismiss the appeal on its merits.

The case was then referred to the Court of Cassation. The appeal stated that Boğatekin's posts were critical of President Erdoğan and that the elements of the crime of “insulting the president” were not present, in accordance with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Constitutional Court (AYM).

The 4th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation heard the case on 8 December 2025. The Chamber unanimously overturned the decision of the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Gaziantep Regional Court of Appeals, despite the approval request of the Court of Cassation Public Prosecutor's Office in the notification.

The decision emphasized that it is an “established principle” that the limits permitted in criticism of politicians are broader than those for private individuals.

The Supreme Court ruled that the case should be sent back to the Gerger Criminal Court of First Instance for reconsideration.

Yeniçağ editor detained over social media post about drug operation

Journalist Fatih Ergin, news editor of Yeniçağ newspaper’s website, was briefly detained on 10 January following a social media post related to a high-profile drug investigation involving a luxury hotel frequented by celebrities and wealthy business figures. In his post, Ergin reported that “three well-known individuals” had left Bebek Hotel shortly before a narcotics police raid, identifying them as prominent names from Turkey’s football community. He was released by court order the following day after giving a statement to the prosecutor.

As part of the same investigation, Bebek Hotel’s owner, Muzaffer Yıldırım, and its general manager, Arif Altunbulak, were remanded in custody pending trial. A prosecution involving Habertürk editor-in-chief Mehmet Akif Ersoy and presenter Ela Rümeysa Cebeci last month has triggered a series of drug-related investigations involving well-known celebrities, businesspeople, influencers, and socialites. This case is the latest to emerge from that broader probe.

Ergin had previously been detained on 29 December 2025 on charges of “spreading false information” over his social media posts during a security operation targeting ISIS members in the northwestern province of Yalova, in which three police officers were killed. Following his release at the time, Ergin defended his reporting, stating, “I reported accurately, despite the threats I received.” After his release, access to Ergin’s X (formerly Twitter) account was blocked in Turkey.

Welat Agency reporter detained while covering protest in Şırnak

A group in the Turkey’s southeastern Nur neighborhood of Cizre district in Şırnak organized a protest on 14 January against the attacks on North and East Syria. The police intervened in the protest.

During the intervention, Welat Agency reporter Nedim Oruç, who was covering the protest with his camera, was beaten and detained.

RTÜK imposes fines on channels and removes platforms from catalog

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) issued five separate sanctions against Show TV and NOW TV channels and the Disney+ and Spotify platforms.

The fines were announced on X by Tuncay Keser, a member of RTÜK from the CHP.

Accordingly, RTÜK imposed a 2 percent administrative fine on Show TV and a 2 percent administrative fine and a 1 percent administrative fine on NOW TV.

The Board also imposed a removal from the catalog sanction on Disney Plus and Spotify.

A 2 percent administrative fine was also imposed on these two platforms.

Show TV, controlled by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), was fined 2 percent for normalizing violence in certain scenes in four different episodes of the series “Veliaht.”

NOW TV was fined 2 percent for two episodes of the series “Halef: Köklerin Çağrısı.”

The reason for the fine was that the series depicted a married man marrying a second time, which was deemed to violate the principle that “programs cannot contain content that is contrary to gender equality, encourages pressure on women, and exploits women.”

The Board imposed a 2 percent administrative fine on Disney Plus over some expressions in five different episodes of the “Konuşanlar” program being slang, and also imposed a removal from the catalog sanction on the grounds that it was “contrary to national and spiritual values and general morality.”

Spotify was also fined 2 percent for some playlists and song titles being slang and removed from the catalog for being “contrary to national and spiritual values and general morality.”

Trial of Zafer Arapkirli over his social media post adjourned until February

The first hearing in the trial of journalist Zafer Arapkirli, who is being prosecuted for “inciting the public to hatred and hostility” and “spreading false information” over a post he sahred on his X account was held at the Istanbul 23rd Criminal Court of First Instance on 15 January 2026.

Arapkirli and his lawyer Kemal Aytaç were present at the hearing.

Arapkirli, who is on trial for his comments on attacks against Alawite villages in Syria, began his defense by saying, “I do not want to take up too much of your time,” and stated that he has been constantly tried in recent times because of his journalism:

"Until a few years ago, I was a journalist who had never been sued, never seen the inside of a courthouse, and never had a tax or traffic fine. Now I can't leave the courthouse. Looking at the indictments, I see that they were prepared with political motives and contain forced accusations. There are three main accusations in the recent period: insulting the president, inciting the public to hatred and hostility, and disinformation. I have received all three of them as a ‘full package.’"

Arapkirli's lawyer, Kemal Aytaç, emphasized that his client's post fell within the scope of freedom of expression, saying, “The indictment is entirely based on interpretation. There is no criminal element in this post. Even bringing the case to court is an absurdity. We demand an acquittal for my client.”

The court postponed the case until 26 February 2026, for the prosecutor to file their final opinion on the case.

Prosecutor seeks conviction of journalist Zafer Arapkirli on “insulting the president” charge

The prosecutor has requested the conviction of journalist Zafer Arapkirli on charges of “insulting the president” over a post he shared on the social media platform X, in which the BirGün columnist wrote, “You are a very bad screenwriter... and always have been.”

The second hearing in Arapkirli’s trial was held on 13 January 2026. Presenting the final opinion, the prosecutor argued that the post exceeded the limits of criticism and freedom of expression, and requested that Arapkirli be punished for the alleged offense.

The lawyer representing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was present at the hearing, stated that they concurred with the prosecutor’s opinion and also sought Arapkirli’s conviction. The court granted the defense time to respond and adjourned the case until 3 March 2026.

The investigation was launched after Cem Küçük, a columnist for the pro-government Türkiye daily, publicly targeted Arapkirli’s social media comments. Following Arapkirli’s post on X, Küçük accused him of insulting the president and called on the prosecutor’s office to take action.

Click here to read more details from the hearing.

Trial of journalist Can Uğur adjourned

The first hearing in the trial of Cumhuriyet newspaper News Director Can Uğur, who is charged with “spreading false information” over his report regarding allegations of high school entry exam questions being stolen, was held at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 January 2026.

Uğur's lawyer, Enes Hikmet Ermaner, was present at the hearing, which was monitored by P24. Uğur did not attend the hearing.

The court postponed the case until 17 September 2026, to allow Can Uğur to be present.

Click here to read the full article.

Trial of İsmail Arı adjourned until September

The fourth hearing in the trial of journalist İsmail Arı on charges of “insult” and “defamation” following a complaint by Levent Uysal, MHP Mersin Deputy and founder of the Nişantaşı Education Foundation, was held at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 January 2026.

The hearing, monitored by P24, was attended by the lawyer representing the plaintiff, Uysal. Arı and his lawyer did not attend the hearing, citing reasons.

Levent Uysal's lawyer, who was present, stated that the complaints were ongoing and requested that Arı be punished.

The trial was postponed until 22 September 2026.

Click here to read the full article.

Court lifts travel ban on Halk TV journalists over reporting on expert witness

The international travel ban imposed on five prominent journalists was lifted on 13 January 2026 in a case stemming from their reporting on phone conversations with an accounting expert accused by Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu of preparing false expert reports in judicial proceedings.

The journalists —Halk TV Editor-in-Chief Suat Toktaş, Managing Editor Serhan Asker, Programs Coordinator Kürşad Oğuz, journalist Barış Pehlivan, and anchor Seda Selek— are on trial on charges of “recording non-public conversations between individuals,” “broadcasting recorded conversations through the press,” and “attempting to influence a judicial official.”

At the fourth hearing of the case, the Istanbul 54th Criminal Court of First Instance rejected the prosecutor’s request to maintain the international travel ban. The court also ordered that the expert at the center of the controversy be brought to the next hearing by force in order to give testimony. The trial was adjourned until 13 February 2026.

The case followed a press conference held on 27 January 2025, at which Mayor İmamoğlu publicly identified S.B. as an expert involved in investigations concerning the Beşiktaş and Esenyurt municipalities, as well as cases targeting İmamoğlu himself. Shortly after, Barış Pehlivan was detained over the broadcast on Halk TV of a recorded phone conversation with the expert named by the mayor. He was subsequently joined in detention by Suat Toktaş, Kürşad Oğuz, Seda Selek, and Serhan Asker.

While four of the journalists were released after questioning, Toktaş was remanded in custody and spent approximately one month in pre-trial detention before the first hearing of the case.

Mayor İmamoğlu was later arrested on 19 March 2025 in a separate investigation and remains in prison.

Click here to read more details from the hearing.

Metin Cihan's trial adjourned until September

The 12th hearing in the lawsuit filed against journalist Metin Cihan on the charge of “insulting a public official” upon the complaint of former Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak was held at the İstanbul 36th Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 January 2026.

No one attended the hearing.

The trial was adjourned until 21 April 2026.

Court bars journalists and observers from trial of journalist assaulted by police while reporting

An Istanbul court has barred public access to the second hearing in the trial of Can Öztürk, a reporter for T24 who was detained after being assaulted by police while covering a student protest at Boğaziçi University last year.

Öztürk was reporting on a demonstration opposing the appearance of Nurettin Yıldız, a controversial Islamic figure known for publicly advocating child marriage. During the protest, he was attacked by police officers and taken into custody despite identifying himself as a journalist and carrying a press card.

At the second hearing, held on 12 January 2026, police officers involved in the incident were expected to testify. This followed a 29 December 2025 ruling by the Istanbul Regional Administrative Court to overturn a previous decision denying permission to investigate the officers, reopening the possibility of accountability.

Despite the hearing being moved to a larger courtroom and being legally open to the public, the court ordered that journalists, observers, and even the defendants’ relatives be excluded from the courtroom, citing “lack of space.” Only a limited number of accredited court reporters were admitted. Journalists holding Turquoise press cards, representatives of international missions including the U.S. Consulate, and observers from freedom of expression organizations were denied entry based on a verbal instruction to courthouse security. By contrast, relatives of the police officers who filed complaints against Öztürk were allowed to remain inside.

Defense lawyers argued that this selective exclusion amounted to a de facto restriction of the right to a public hearing and undermined the principle of equality of arms.

In his testimony, Öztürk stated that he was present solely to observe and report on the protest, that he did not understand why he was detained, and that police officers forcibly removed him despite his repeated identification as a journalist. The police officers, appearing as complainants, claimed that students and Öztürk had assaulted them. However, the medical report submitted to the court reportedly contained no record of the alleged injury to an officer’s arm.

Öztürk’s lawyer, Batıkan Erkoç, requested that missing police footage be formally sought, that an independent expert analysis be conducted, and that a renewed investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office be added to the case file. The defense also sought permission to file a criminal complaint against the officers involved.

The court rejected the requests to compel the submission of video footage and to initiate a criminal complaint against the police officers. However, it did rule that both the renewed investigation opened by the prosecutor’s office and the regional court’s decision authorizing an investigation into the officers should be included in the case file.

The trial was postponed until 27 April 2026.

At least 28 journalists and media workers behind bars in Turkey

As of 16 January 2026, there are now at least 28 journalists and media workers in prison in Turkey, either awaiting trial or serving finalized sentences.

The full list can be accessed here.