

Turkey: Detained İstanbul mayor İmamoğlu handed prison sentence
Ekrem İmamoğlu, the opposition’s presidential candidate, has been sentenced to a total of 1 year and 2 months in prison on charges of making threats and insulting a public official. There are several other cases against him.

Türkiye: Arrest warrant for journalist Nedim Türfent is unlawful and unjust
IFEX joins international free expression, media freedom, human rights and journalists’ organisations in condemning the issuance of an arrest warrant targeting Türfent for acts of protected speech and for his work as a journalist. As Türfent is now based in Germany, the warrant may result in an extradition request.

Turkey: Four “LeMan” staff arrested in connection with “Muhammad” cartoon
Rights groups condemn the violence and arrests targeting “LeMan” staff and offices as a result of a caricature allegedly depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Turkey: Journalists among dozens detained as Police block İstanbul Pride March
Among the detained journalists were Nur Kaya and Evrim Gündüz, who work for IFEX member “bianet”, and Yusuf Çelik, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish newspaper “Özgür Gelecek”.

Turkey: Press freedom groups call for release of journalist Fatih Altaylı
“The decision to interpret Altaylı’s remarks as incitement to assassination is a dangerous expansion of criminal liability, one that threatens to further erode freedom of expression in Turkey.”

Turkey: Four journalists arrested on terrorism charges following Istanbul raids
The charges stem from allegations related to the journalists’ professional activities, and focus on software services provided to news websites, payments received for articles, and phone communications.

Council of Europe reports a rise in hate crimes in Turkey
“Hate speech is described as ‘widespread’ in Turkish media and political discourse. Frequent targets include Alevis, Muslims, non-Muslim minorities (such as Jews and Christians), Kurds, refugees, migrants, and LGBTQI+ people.”

Turkey should release Turkmen activist Umidajan Bekchanova and halt deportation
“Bekchanova’s detention puts her at immediate risk of being sent back to Turkmenistan, where independent activism and dissent are severely punished” – HRW

Turkey should drop investigation into Kurdish writer Mehmet Dicle and his publisher
A “terrorist propaganda” investigation has been launched into Mehmet Dicle and his publisher over the writer’s novel “Berfa Sor”.

Northern Cyprus should give permanent police protection to journalist Aysemden Akin
Akin has received death threats and her source was murdered. Despite asking for round-the-clock protection, she has only been provided with a police patrol presence for 30 minutes each morning.

Turkey: Journalist Besime Yardım charged with “spreading disinformation” over social media post
Yardım was detained solely for sharing a news story about an arms-trafficking investigation on Instagram, and commenting that there were differences in the approaches of the security and judicial authorities to the operation.

Turkey: Release and drop charges against journalists Hamza Kaan and Mehmet Üçar
Kaan and Üçar have been detained on terror-related charges since November 2024. They are due to be tried separately in July, and each faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Open letter regarding the assault on the right to political participation, the rule of law and human rights in Türkiye
IFEX and other signatories state that they consider that the EU’s response to developments in Türkiye has been overly mild and manifestly fails to match the scale and gravity of the clampdown unfolding in the country.

Turkey: Student faces four years in prison for holding “dictator Erdoğan” sign at protest
Student Esila Ayık has been kept in pretrial detention for over a month despite having chronic health issues. She is currently in Bakırköy Women’s Prison.