Expression Interrupted

Journalists and academics bear the brunt of the massive crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey. Scores of them are currently subject to criminal investigations or behind bars. This website is dedicated to tracking the legal process against them.

Journalist Mehmet Murat Yıldırım under investigation on suspicion of "terrorism propaganda"

Journalist Mehmet Murat Yıldırım under investigation on suspicion of

Aydın Chief Prosecutor’s Office cites X posts by the journalist shared after February 2023 earthquakes as grounds for the charge

AZİZ ORUÇ

The Aydın Chief Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation against Özgür Yurttaş news editor and Mehmet Murat Yıldırım on suspicion of “terrorism propaganda” over his X posts following the earthquakes of 6 February 2023.

Yıldırım has announced that he had recently become aware of the investigation, which began on 17 October 2024.

Posts about Yıldırım’s father considered evidence of crime

A quote from a conversation between Yıldırım and his father and posts about reporting on PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was cited as the grounds for the investigation.

In the post subject to the investigation, Yıldırım had written, “15 years ago, as we passed through Diyarbakır during a trip between Bursa and Batman, my father said, ‘These buildings are very nice, but the mindset and mentality have remained the same.’ I better understand what he meant now. It has been five years since he passed away and I miss him.”

Yıldırım told Expression Interrupted the following about the investigation: “This investigation against me shows the state of freedom of expression in the country. That I criticized the harm profit seeking has done to the country in a post after the 6 February 2023 earthquakes was considered ‘terrorism propaganda.’ The trial of a citizen over his valid criticism should be viewed as a violation of human rights. As free press workers, we will continue to write the truth, defend freedom of expression and stand against injustice. They will not silence us with such practices.”

Yıldırım said he had been the subject of three investigations and two court cases on similar grounds and added that many court cases had been filed against him with comparable claims.

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