Four journalists jailed; indictment filed against İmamoğlu, Özkan, Yanardağ, and Gün for “espionage”; top court finds state-run Anadolu Agency at fault; RTÜK gives TELE 2 Haber time for license

Police raid news agency’s office: Four journalists jailed

A police operation was carried out in 22 cities against the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) and its institutions on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” on 3 February. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated that 96 people were detained.

In addition to the ESP, operations were also carried out against the Socialist Women's Assembly (SKM), the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF), the Etkin News Agency (ETHA), DİSK/Limter-İş, Polen Ecology, and BEKSAV.

According to the reports, ETHA's equipment was confiscated, while at the same time, access to the agency's digital accounts was blocked. During the raid, ETHA reporter Nadiye Gürbüz, ETHA editors Pınar Gayıp and Elif Bayburt, Müslüm Koyun, and Züleyha Müldür were detained.

On 5 February, 56 people, including journalists, politicians, and activists, were transferred to Çağlayan Courthouse and sent to Istanbul 7th Criminal Court of Peace with a request for imprisonment without even being questioned by the prosecutor.

Following the interrogations, 47 people, including journalists Pınar Gayıp, Elif Bayburt, Nadiye Gürbüz, Müslüm Koyun, and ESP Co-Chair Murat Çepni, were sent to pre-trial detention, while nine others were released under judicial control measure. ETHA reporter Züleyha Müldür was released under judicial control measure.

The court justified its decision to jail 47 people on the grounds that “the evidence had not yet been gathered” and that there were “suspicions of flight and concealment.”

An indictment for “espionage” filed against İmamoğlu, Özkan, Yanardağ, and Gün

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment on suspicion of “political espionage” against the jailed Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, İmamoğlu's advisor and campaign director Necati Özkan, the jailed Editor-in-Chief of TELE 1 Merdan Yanardağ, and Hüseyin Gün.

The indictment lists Ekrem İmamoğlu as the “leader of the organization.” Documents seized from Hüseyin Gün are also central to the indictment.

The prosecutor's office stated that the investigation began with a tip to the 112 Emergency Call Center. The person who made the report claimed that Gün carried out espionage activities on behalf of Israel, the UK, and the US, and that he conducted his meetings via encrypted phones. However, the investigation into Seher Alaçam, who allegedly gave money to Merdan Yanardağ and whom Hüseyin Gün referred to as “mommy,” was closed with a decision not to prosecute because Alaçam was not alive.

Based on the MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) report, the prosecutor’s office claimed that Hüseyin Gün made large money transfers domestically and internationally despite not having any commercial activities. According to the report, a total of TL 85 million was withdrawn from Gün's accounts; the prosecution stated that there were no purchase or sale records regarding the use of this money.

In the indictment, the prosecutor's office alleged that Gün submitted analyses related to Middle Eastern countries to the British Consulate General and shared intelligence information about Afghanistan and Libya.

The prosecutor's office stated that Gün admitted in his statement that he owned a company called Piiq and that his partner was a former intelligence officer.

The prosecutor’s office sent the indictment to the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court.

Constitutional Court finds state-run Anadolu Agency at fault

The Constitutional Court (AYM) ruled that the state-run Anadolu Agency's (AA) data interruption while transmitting the 2019 local election results to subscribers was a violation of rights. In an individual application filed by KRT Television, the top court concluded that AA “performed its duty late and was therefore at fault.” The court also noted that “the approximately 13-hour interruption in the data stream occurred during the most critical stages of the vote count, and it is clear that this situation could have affected the applicant's broadcasting activities.”

During the 2019 local elections, which saw fierce competition between CHP candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and AKP candidate Binali Yıldırım in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality elections, Anadolu Agency allegedly stopped broadcasting the election results when İmamoğlu took the lead. The 13-hour data interruption caused major controversy, and the AA management claimed that they were under a cyber-attack, issuing a statement at midnight also saying, “We cannot broadcast because there is no data flow from the YSK (Supreme Election Board).” The denial of this statement by the then-YSK President Sadi Güven increased the reactions against the AA. Television channels that had data broadcasting contracts with the agency were also unable to relay AA data to their viewers for a long time. KRT television, one of the television channels that voiced its objections, took the matter to court.

In the case heard at the Ankara 2nd Civil Court of First Instance, the court referred the case to a two-person expert panel consisting of a financial advisor and a computer engineer.

The expert panel reported that AA's “cyber-attack” justification could not be technically verified. The expert panel's report examined AA's claim that “it provided delayed data flow due to being under a cyber-attack and that this constituted force majeure” and stated that AA's claim could not be technically verified. In its financial assessment, the Ankara 2nd Civil Commercial Court ruled that the service provided by AA to the applicant had been performed, albeit with a delay, and that there was no identifiable concrete damage, and definitively dismissed the case on 12 November 2021.

Following the final dismissal of the case, KRT television filed an individual application with the Constitutional Court on 13 December 2021. The applicant stated that the court had characterized the dispute as non-performance but that this finding was erroneous, arguing that the right to a fair trial and the freedoms of expression and the press had been violated.

The Constitutional Court ruled that the freedoms of expression and the press, guaranteed by Articles 26 and 28 of the Constitution, had been violated, and sent a copy of the decision to the Ankara 2nd Civil Commercial Court for a retrial to eliminate the consequences of the violation of the freedoms of expression and the press. The applicant was also awarded TL 2,500 in net moral damages.

Access to the social media accounts of MA, Yeni Yaşam, and JinNews blocked

Access to the X account of the Mezopotamya Agency (MA) has been blocked in Turkey. No explanation was given as to why the account, which had 263,000 followers, was blocked.

Similarly, MA's YouTube channel, which has 148,000 followers, has been blocked in Turkey upon request.

Furthermore, access to the X accounts of JinNews and Yeni Yaşam newspaper have also been blocked. Yeni Yaşam's website has been blocked twice in the past month.

RTÜK gives TELE 2 Haber deadline: If no application is made, it will request access restriction

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) will request access restriction from YouTube if TELE 2 Haber does not apply for license within 72 hours.

RTÜK issued a dual license decision for TELE 2 Haber. Accordingly, if TELE 2 Haber does not apply for a license within 72 hours, RTÜK will request an access block.

The Board had previously given journalist Fatih Altalylı, Flu TV, Cumhuriyet TV, and BirGün TV a deadline to apply for a license.

Following the arrest of TELE 1 Editor-in-Chief Merdan Yanardağ and the appointment of a trustee to the channel, journalists who resigned from TELE 1 announced that they had established a new platform under the name TELE 2 Haber. TELE 2 Haber continues its live broadcasts via its YouTube channel.

Investigation launched against JinNews News Director Öznur Değer

An investigation has been launched against JinNews News Director Öznur Değer on the suspicion of “inciting the public to hatred and hostility” for filming and sharing the police intervention in a march held for Rojava in Van on 29 January 2026.

As part of the investigation launched by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Değer gave a statement at the Van Police Department Security Branch Directorate, accompanied by her lawyer.

Değer left the department after giving her statement.

Sedef Kabaş's trial postponed until May

The ninth hearing in the trial of journalist Sedef Kabaş, who is charged with “insulting the president” over her social media posts, was held at the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 5 February 2026.

Kabaş did not attend the hearing, but her lawyer, Selin Sınmaz, was present in the courtroom.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's lawyers stated that their complaints were ongoing. Kabaş's lawyer, Sınmaz, recalled the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling in the Vedat Şorli case and requested that the case be dismissed or that an immediate acquittal be granted.

The judge stated that the case was related to a similar case heard at the Istanbul 36th Criminal Court of First Instance and decided to inquire about the outcome of that case.

The trial was postponed until 5 May 2026.

Nefes reporter Nisanur Yıldırım's “insulting a public official” trial begins

The first hearing in the trial of Nefes newspaper reporter Nisanur Yıldırım on charges of “insulting a public official” was held at the Bakırköy 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 4 February 2026.

Yıldırım did not attend the hearing, but her lawyer Merve Bilgin and the lawyer representing the plaintiff Ersoy were present. P24 monitored the hearing.

Ersoy's lawyer stated that the complaints were ongoing and that they requested to join the case as co-plaintiff.

The prosecutor requested time to prepare their final opinion on the case.

The court accepted Ersoy and his lawyer's request to join the case and postponed the trial until 18 February 2026, to allow for the prosecutor to file their final opinion on the case.

Click here to read the full article.

Case file sent to the Court of Cassation in Perihan Sevda Erkılınç’s trial

The Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court has decided to send the case file of Perihan Sevda Erkılınç, who is being tried on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization,” to the Court of Cassation with a request for merger.

It has not been clarified in which court the case against journalist will be heard. While the jurisdiction crisis between the Istanbul and Izmir high criminal courts continues, the case has now been transferred to the Court of Cassation to resolve the jurisdiction issue.

While the investigation against Erkılınç was ongoing in Istanbul, another case with the same charge was ongoing at the Izmir 19th High Criminal Court. For this reason, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office sent the case file to the Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office while it was still under investigation. The Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment requesting that the case be combined with the ongoing trial, but the Izmir 19th High Criminal Court rejected this request.

After the appeal process, the case file was assigned to the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court. At the hearing on 12 November, the court brought up the decision to combine the cases again. Considering the nature of the charges against the defendant Perihan Sevda Erkılınç and the evidence in the files, it was stated that it was legally necessary to evaluate the evidence together due to the scope of the charge of “membership in an armed organization.”

Therefore, the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court ruled that the cases should be heard together and recommended that the files be merged so that the defendant's legal status could be determined accordingly. To this end, the court requested the consent of the Izmir 19th High Criminal Court for the merger.

However, the Izmir 19th High Criminal Court rejected this request for the second time. Upon this, the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court appealed to the 5th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation with a request to merge the case with the trial in Izmir. While the process was transferred to the Court of Cassation to overcome the jurisdiction crisis, the trial in Izmir continues its own course.

At least 32 journalists and media workers behind bars in Turkey

Following the imprisonment of four journalists, as of 6 February 2026, there are now at least 32 journalists and media workers were in prison in Turkey, either awaiting trial or serving finalized sentences.

The full list can be accessed here.