IPS Communication Foundation – Bianet

In their crackdown on mass protests against the arrest of İstanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the authorities have detained over 1,000 people, including several journalists. Police have also attacked reporters covering the protests.

Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained on corruption and terrorism-related charges while he was preparing to be declared the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential election.

New legislation provides prison sentences for falsely claiming a cybersecurity-related data leak has occurred. It also allows authorities to access private information without sufficient safeguards.

The lawyers face up to 12 years in prison following their statement condemning the drone-killing of Kurdish journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin in northern Syria.

Journalists Elif Akgül, Yıldız Tar and Nurcan Kaya were among the 52 people arrested in mid-February as part of an ongoing investigation by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Bianet’s review of 2024 reveals that 25 journalists and press outlets were attacked last year, 82 media workers were threatened, 57 journalists were detained and 36 were convicted.

In addition to the detention of 31 journalists, there were at least 12 physical attacks on the press; and 17 journalists faced charges of “insulting the president”.

The ‘X’ and YouTube accounts of the ‘Mezopotamya Agency’ have been blocked. Other prominent Kurdish outlets also blocked on ‘X’ in Turkey include ‘Jin News’ and ‘Yeni Yaşam’.