Journalist jailed over a post about President Erdoğan’s son-in-law; indictment filed against the imprisoned journalist Pınar Gayıp; Zişan Gür acquitted; access to many accounts blocked ahead of NATO summit

Journalist Fatma Sibel Gürcihan jailed over a post about President Erdoğan’s son-in-law

Journalist Fatma Sibel Gürcihan was imprisoned pending trial on 2 June following a social media post she shared regarding Berat Albayrak, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law.

In her social media post, Gürcihan quoted Berat Albayrak, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law, as saying: “They call me ‘son-in-law’ to belittle me. ‘It is an honor for me to be the son-in-law of one of the most important leaders in Turkish Islamic history. My relationship [with Erdoğan] is one of a shared cause’.” Responding to Albayrak’s remarks, Gürcihan said: “They dragged you into the garden of the villa in Kısıklı and beat you up, sir. Even your security officer, who was simply trying to do his job, was on the receiving end of kicks and punches. What sort of ‘cause’ is this, if I may ask? Must you be strangled like Damat İbrahim Pasha to accept that you have been ostracised by your family?”

Gürcihan, who was taken into custody on 1 June as part of the investigation launched against her, was sent to pre-trial detention on 2 June.

Radio Sputnik presenter imprisoned over tweet on alleged abduction of Istanbul Municipality official

Veteran journalist and Radio Sputnik presenter Ali Cağatay was jailed pending trial on 26 June 2026 on charges of “spreading false information” and “insulting state institutions and organs” over a social media post concerning the alleged abduction of an Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality official.

Cağatay was detained a day earlier after prosecutors issued an arrest warrant in connection with posts he shared on X about the alleged abduction and torture of Erhan Karaal, deputy general manager of İBB Kültür A.Ş., outside his home on 17 June.

In his posts, Çağatay alleged that police officers had been involved in the incident, prompting prosecutors to open an investigation on suspicion of disseminating false information and insulting state institutions.

Following his questioning, a court ordered Cağatay's pre-trial detention on 26 June.

Access to X account of P24’s Speak Up Platform blocked

Access to the X account of P24’s Speak Up (Susma) Platform (@susma_24) has been blocked in Turkey following a request by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK).

According to an email sent by X to the platform on 27 June, access to the account was restricted pursuant to Article 8/A of Law No. 5651 after the company received a notification from the BTK. The notification did not specify the grounds for the restriction.

Shortly after informing Speak Up that the entire account had been blocked in Turkey, X sent a second notification stating that access to an individual post had also been restricted under the same legal provision. The blocked post concerned a recent news report about the restriction of X accounts belonging to numerous LGBTQI+ civil society organizations.

Article 8/A of Law No. 5651 allows the BTK to order the removal of online content or the blocking of access in urgent cases involving national security, public order, or similar grounds, upon the request of relevant ministries or the Presidency. Such decisions must be submitted to a criminal court of peace for approval within 24 hours.

The Speak Up account, documenting violations of artistic freedom of expression in Turkey since 2016 and followed by more than 10,000 users, is the latest in a series of accounts restricted in Turkey in recent weeks. Journalists, human rights defenders, LGBTQI+ and women’s rights organizations, as well as accounts sharing anti-NATO content, have also been blocked under similar legal justifications.

Evrensel reporter released a day after jailing over draft news article

Evrensel newspaper's Ankara representative Doğa Baskan was released from prison on 26 June 2026, one day after being placed in pre-trial detention on charges of “spreading false information.”

Baskan had voluntarily appeared before the prosecutor's office with her lawyers on 25 June to give a statement before being arrested and sent to prison.

The investigation stemmed from a draft news article that was mistakenly published on the evrensel.net website and removed shortly after the error was noticed. According to Evrensel, the text had been sent to the newsroom as an unpublished draft and was inadvertently made public before being taken down.

Prosecutors nevertheless launched an investigation and ordered Baskan's arrest over the publication. A court ordered her release the following day.

Indictment filed against the imprisoned journalist Pınar Gayıp

An indictment has been drawn up against the imprisoned Etkin News Agency (ETHA) reporter Pınar Gayıp on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization.”

The majority of the evidence put forward by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office consists of journalistic activities: her press card, her work at the ETHA news agency, her coverage of the ‘Saturday Mothers/People’ protests, and her attendance at the funeral of Emine Ocak, one of the movement’s iconic figures.

The first hearing will take place at the 23rd Istanbul High Criminal Court on 14 September 2026.

Cumhuriyet reporter briefly detained

Gülnur Saydam, a reporter for the Cumhuriyet newspaper, was detained on 2 July on charges of “spreading false information” following a news report she had written, and was released the same day.

The article, published in the Cumhuriyet newspaper on 1 July under the headline “Yurttaş meydana gelen saldırılar arasında yaşam mücadelesi veriyor: Çetelerin yeni adresi İstanbul'un gözde semti Göktürk mü?, (Citizens are struggling to survive amidst the attacks: Is Göktürk, Istanbul’s up-and-coming neighbourhood, the gangs’ new target?), highlighted the threats and armed attacks taking place in Göktürk and gave voice to citizens’ concerns. The article also quoted a statement from the police stating that “there is not a single record of an unsolved crime in Göktürk.”

İsmail Arı gives statement over news report

Journalist İsmail Arı gave a statement on 1 July as part of an investigation opened following a news report he published in November 2025.

In his report published in the BirGün newspaper on 6 November, Arı had written that the defendants in custody in the case concerning the 10-storey Ezgi Apartment Block—which collapsed during the major earthquake in Maraş on 6 February 2023—had been making money by selling ice cream to certain prisons and AKP-run municipalities even whilst in prison.

An investigation was launched against Arı and access to the article was blocked following the publication of the news report.

Access blocked to Azadiya Welat, Ajansa Welat and sendika.org

The websites of Azadiya Welat and Ajansa Welat, which publish in Kurdish, have been blocked by the Information and Communications Technologies Authority (BTK). Meanwhile, access to Ajansa Welat’s X (Twitter) social media account has also been blocked.

Meanwhile, sendika.org announced that a decision had been taken to block access to its X account for a second time. It was stated that the decision, taken on the grounds of “national security” and “the protection of public order”, had been communicated to X, but that the account had not yet been made invisible from within Turkey.

A decision to block access to Sendika.Org’s X account had previously been issued on 8 October 2025 on the same grounds; the account had again not been made invisible from Turkey.

Sendika.Org recalled that its website had been blocked 64 times to date, that the Constitutional Court had ruled twice that this constituted a violation of freedom of expression, and that the blocks had been lifted in accordance with these rulings.

Trial of T24 reporter Can Öztürk adjourned

The fourth hearing in the trial of T24 reporter Can Öztürk and 14 students from Boğaziçi University, who are charged with “violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations” for protesting a speech by Nurettin Yıldız, who advocates child marriage, was held at the İstanbul 69th Criminal Court of First Instance on 3 July 2026.

Öztürk, along with some of the students on trial and their lawyers, were present in the courtroom. P24 monitored the hearing.

Öztürk stated that he was reiterating his previous statements and had nothing further to add.

Lawyer Özge Durdu requested that an occupational health and safety report be drawn up and that footage relating to the incident be obtained.

The court rejected lawyer Durdu’s request.

The case was adjourned until 23 October 2026.

Trial of İsminaz Temel and Havva Cuştan adjourned until December

The 34th hearing in the trial of 23 people, including ETHA editor İsminaz Temel and its former reporter Havva Cuştan, on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda,” was held at the İstanbul 27th High Criminal Court on 3 July 2026. P24 monitored the hearing.

The court ruled that the arrest warrants against the defendants should remain in force, that their sentences should be served, and that the judicial supervision measures imposed on those defendants subject to international travel ban should continue. The court also ordered the release of one imprisoned defendant.

Trial was adjourned until 8 December 2026.

Zişan Gür acquitted

The third hearing in the trial of 66 people, including journalist Zişan Gür, who was detained while covering the Saraçhane protests, on charges of “participating in an unlawful assembly and march without weapons and refusing to disperse despite warnings,” was held at the Istanbul 26th Criminal Court of First Instance on 3 July 2026.

Four defendants and their lawyers were present at the hearing, which Gür did not attend. P24 monitored the hearing.

The prosecutor, presenting their final opinion on the case, noted that the ban on demonstrations and events imposed by the Istanbul Governor’s Office at the time had been lifted, and requested that all defendants be acquitted individually.

The defence lawyers also stated that they concurred with the submission for acquittal.

The court ruled that all defendants be acquitted individually.

At least 23 journalists and media workers behind bars in Turkey

As of 3 July 2026, following the imprisonment of Ali Cağatay and Fatma Sibel Gürcihan, and release of Doğa Baskan, there are now at least 23 journalists and media workers in prison in Turkey, either awaiting trial or serving finalized sentences.

The full list can be accessed here.