The court partially accepted the case, ordering Karabay to pay TL 35,000 TL in moral damages

The eighth hearing in a compensation case filed against journalist Furkan Karabay by Mustafa Doğan İnal, a former lawyer of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on the charge of “violation of personal rights” was held at the İstanbul 33rd Civil Court of First Instance on 9 September 2025.

P24 monitored the hearing, which was attended by the lawyers of the parties.

Muhammed Koç, the lawyer for the plaintiff Mustafa Doğan İnal, requested that the case be accepted based on the amount specified in the petition. Koç requested that the verdict handed down in Karabay's case at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance be taken as the basis for the decision.

Özge Naz Akkaya, the lawyer for Furkan Karabay, stated that the ruling issued by the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance regarding her client was not binding on the civil court. Reminding that, pursuant to Article 74 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, the civil judge is not bound by the decisions of the criminal court, Akkaya requested that the case be dismissed, stating that the act in question fell within the scope of freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

The court partially accepted the case, ordering Karabay to pay TL 35,000 TL in moral damages.

Background of the case

Mustafa Doğan İnal, a former lawyer of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, filed a criminal complaint against Karabay on 22 June 2022, citing a news article titled “Yargıda ‘Antalya’ operasyonunda ‘İstanbul’ ayrıntısı” (Details of ‘İstanbul’ in the ‘Antalya’ operation in the judiciary” published on the Gerçek Gündem website, claiming that the article was “entirely fictional” and “intended to assassinate his reputation.” Following İnal's complaint, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against Karabay on 14 November 2022, on charges of “insult” and “defamation.” The indictment was accepted by the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. At the final hearing of the case on 18 January 2024, the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted Karabay of the “insult” charge but sentenced him to 1 year and 15 days in prison for the “defamation” charge, suspending the sentence.

Citing the same news report, İnal filed a lawsuit against Karabay on 27 June 2022, seeking TL 100,000 in moral damages. Claiming that the news article and the social media post containing it constituted a “serious attack on his personal rights,” İnal argued that he was “targeted” in the article and that “false allegations and accusations were made against him with the aim of assassinating his reputation.”

The İstanbul 33rd Civil Court of First Instance, which was hearing the damages case, decided at the third hearing on 14 December 2023, to wait for the sentence imposed on Karabay by the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance to become final.