In the trial of Terkoğlu and retired military judge Üçok, the court has requested that the indictment against prosecutor Kökçü be submitted to the case file. The trial has been adjourned until 28 April

CANSU PİŞKİN, ISTANBUL

The sixth hearing in the trial of journalist Barış Terkoğlu and İYİ Party Deputy Chairman Ahmet Zeki Üçok on charges of "insulting a public official" was held at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 6 November 2025.

Terkoğlu and Üçok, along with their lawyers, were present at the hearing, which was monitored by P24.

In the previous session, the court had sent a formal inquiry to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) to determine whether an administrative investigation was underway regarding retired prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü, who was cited as a source in Terkoğlu and Üçok’s articles. It was learned that the requested information had been submitted to the case file between sessions.

Speaking about the HSK’s response to the court’s inquiry, which stated that “no such investigation exists,” Üçok said, “The HSK says there is not one, but in the indictment filed by the Bakırköy Chief Prosecutor’s Office regarding Prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü, it is acknowledged that such an investigation was conducted by the HSK. The HSK is giving a false answer to the court’s question. There is forgery of official documents, influencing the trial, and abuse of office here.” Üçok requested that a letter be sent to the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to have the indictment filed against Prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü submitted to the case file.

Terkoğlu also stated in his defense, “If you read the indictment written against Gökalp Kökçü, you would be surprised to think, ‘What other stories are there here?’ and you wouldd judge me for doing a lackluster job as a journalist. In the article in question, you will not find a single statement from me containing insults, aside from Gökalp Kökçü’s own remarks. I did not even explicitly mention the name of the judge Kökçü. How could I have insulted him?” Terkoğlu requested that retired prosecutor Kökçü be heard as a witness and that the indictment filed against Kökçü be included in the case file.

The lawyers for Terkoğlu and Üçok also reiterated their clients’ requests, asking for retired prosecutor Kökçü to be heard as a witness and for the indictment against Kökçü to be added to the case file.

The court decided to send a formal request to the Bakırköy Chief Prosecutor’s Office to obtain the indictment against Kökçü. Rejecting the request to hear Kökçü as a witness at this stage, the court adjourned the case until 28 April 2026.

Background of the case

Terkoğlu, who reported on the allegations made by prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü, who had submitted a petition to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) claiming he faced pressure to close certain cases while serving at the Istanbul Courthouse, included also statements from Üçok, a former judge, in the same article.

In the news articles at the center of the case—published in the Cumhuriyet newspaper in April 2023 under the headlines “Hatırlı FETÖ’cüler nasıl kurtarılıyor” (How Prominent FETÖ Members Are Being Saved) and “Savcı bey geliyorum, bu yazıyı da ekleyin" (Mr. Prosecutor, I’m Coming, Add This Article Too) Terkoğlu had included retired prosecutor Kökçü’s defense before the HSK without naming him. In his defense, Kökçü alleged that “Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Ş.Y. and his deputy M.Y. pressured him to close certain cases in violation of the law, and that when he was transferred to the Istanbul Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, he faced pressure from Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor İ.U. to close another case.”

In the indictment filed on 8 June 2023, charging Terkoğlu and Üçok with “repeatedly and publicly insulting a public official,” Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Şaban Yılmaz, Istanbul Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Mehmet Yılmaz, and Istanbul Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor İsmail Uçar were listed as “victims.”