The prosecutor has argued that the posts in question “exceeded the limits of the right to criticism and freedom of expression” and demanded that the journalist be punished for the crime of “publicly insulting the president.” The trial was postponed until 3 March.

CANSU PİŞKİN, ISTANBUL

The second hearing in the trial of BirGün newspaper columnist Zafer Arapkirli on the charge of “insulting the president” over his social media post was held at the Istanbul 60th Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 January 2026. Arapkirli's lawyer, Kemal Aytaç, was present at the hearing, which was monitored by P24. Arapkirli did not attend the hearing.

Presenting their final opinion on the case, the prosecutor argued that the posts in question “exceeded the limits of the right to criticism and freedom of expression and were of a nature that damaged the honor, dignity, and reputation of the president,” requesting that Arapkirli be punished for the impugned crime.

Arapkirli's lawyer, Kemal Aytaç, requested time to make a statement in response to the opinion on the merits. President Erdoğan's lawyer stated that they agreed with the opinion and requested that Arapkirli be punished.

The court accepted the request for time and postponed the case until 3 March 2026.

Background of the case

On 23 October 2024, Arapkirli posted on his X account, “YOU ARE A VERY BAD SCREENWRITER... You always have been.” On 25 October 2024, pro-government Türkiye newspaper writer Cem Küçük targeted Arapkirli's post on the X platform. In his post targeting Arapkirli, Küçük stated, “If you ask him, he will say he did not mean the president. He wants to say that Erdoğan ordered the TUSAŞ attack, but he's too cowardly to say it outright. Our security forces and judiciary must take the necessary action against this person.” Following Küçük's post, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into Arapkirli.

After completing the investigation, the prosecutor's office drafted an indictment against Arapkirli on charges of “insulting the president.” In his defense at the first hearing of the case on 25 November 2025, Arapkirli stated, "There is a trial here based on a report and complaint. But there is no crime. We can only speak of a political trial and, as in every political trial, an attempt to silence and intimidate. There is an attempt to score points by treating the report, or rather the slander, of a regime supporter, a small regime-fed informant, as an ‘assist.’ As I said at the outset, this is not a trial for a ‘crime of insult,’ it is a ‘political’ trial. It is an attempt to silence and intimidate an opposition journalist, an independent journalist. I reject the alleged crime.”