Street marches took place in support of the freedom of journalists in 10 states across Türkiye in a joint movement against the arrest and detention of journalists for practicing their work or expressing their opinions through social media. The marches, which took place on Saturday simultaneously in 10 states in different parts of Turkey, led by Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara, targeted the government appointing guardians over television channels and media institutions, and blocking access to news websites and social media accounts opposed to them.
Journalism is not a crime
The Union of Turkish Journalists and its branches in the ten states organized mass marches joined by many political parties, civil society organizations concerned with democracy and freedoms, trade unions, bar associations, women and youth organizations, and citizens, as an expression of solidarity with the rejection of practices that violate press freedom.
During the marches, banners such as “Journalism is not a crime,” “No to muzzling the press,” “Freedom for journalists,” and “Enough... We want to breathe,” were raised during the marches. Pictures and banners bearing the names of detained journalists, the most recent of whom were the journalist from the independent newspaper Birgun, who was re-arrested for the second time this year, and the investigative journalist and writer for the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper, Murat Agerel, who was arrested while under house arrest.
Journalist Agriel was arrested from his home at dawn last Tuesday due to not publishing documents related to money laundering crimes involving the family of MP Mustafa Sari Gul, who moved from the Republican People’s Party to the New Party, which was founded by Ozgur Ozil.
In an article for Cumhuriyet newspaper from his pretrial detention, Aguiril said that he was arrested many times because of the news he wrote, but this time he was arrested because of news he had not yet written, in a precedent that the world had not witnessed.
He pointed out that he had received documents from two companies and lawyers in Germany and Britain related to the Sari Gul family case, but he did not want to publish them or interfere in the case before confirming the authenticity of the documents, and he was arrested while he was still studying them, denying that he had any relationship with the family of MP Mustafa Sari Gul.
Before his arrest, Ageril was detained along with journalist Ismail Saymaz, who works in the opposition group “Sozcu”, as well as the electronic publishing official and one of the journalists at the “Birgun” newspaper, due to publishing news about the ongoing investigations into the “case of tampering with investment fund money.” Agerel and Saymaz were released on conditional terms, banned from traveling, and house arrest imposed on them in their homes, while it was decided to imprison the other two journalists.
Arrests stop broadcasting
Birgun journalist Ismail Ari was also arrested for the second time this year on charges of “insulting a public employee” based on a previous complaint from the head of the Turkish Radio and Television Council, Abu Bakr Sahin, which he exchanged on the WhatsApp application before he left his position years ago. He had previously been detained for months because he was accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This came a few days after Halk TV, the largest channel opposed to the government, was stopped broadcasting and a guardian was appointed over it on the grounds that its owner was involved in crimes of corruption, bribery and money laundering, and the blocking of the widespread independent news website T24. The marches demanding freedom of the press began on the first anniversary of the closure of the opposition “Tele 1” channel and the appointment of a government guardian.
In a joint statement, Turkish press unions and organizations affirmed their complete rejection of obstructing the public’s right to obtain information, criminalizing journalism, arresting journalists, detaining them, placing them under house arrest, or placing electronic clamps on their legs to track them, because of their work in reporting news, or the questions they ask, and the facts they reveal, even in the absence of any suspicion that they fled or tampered with evidence.
The statement affirmed that journalism is not a crime, and that reporting news, asking questions, criticizing, and exercising oversight on behalf of the public are constitutionally guaranteed rights, denouncing the silencing of television channels and news websites, the appointment of government guardians over media institutions, and the blocking of access to the social media accounts of journalists, experts, and citizens who publish news.
He stressed the need for journalism to be on the side of the people, not governments, politicians, or capitalists, pointing out that journalists are targeted, detained, and arrested, and that their professional security is threatened because of their news, and that in an environment where journalism is considered a crime, news is a threat, and the truth is a danger, one cannot talk about freedom of the press or democracy.
Ozil supports journalists
Representatives of parties, trade unions, lawyers and civil organizations joined in the cities where the marches were launched in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, Eskisehir, Antalya, Adana, Kocaeli, Van and Diyarbakir, in response to the call of the Union of Journalists, under the slogan: “The press is free, and it cannot be silenced.”
The leader of the opposition, head of the “Good Party,” Ozgur Ozil, participated in the march that began in the city of Izmir (west), and was joined by thousands of party supporters. He said in a statement while walking with journalists and citizens that he joined the march in support of the journalists’ movement to demand their rights. I will not talk much today, and all I am saying is that we stand by journalists, who are the guarantors of our right to receive news, until the end. I congratulate them on their organized unity. “I came to support them, and I will not make any political statements.”
Sources reported that Baghdad suspects that two Chinese-made man-portable air defense systems storage sites were subjected to air strikes last week, at a time when officials are studying an intelligence assessment indicating that the American-Israeli war against Iran may have actually resumed, before the zero hour announcement, but on Iraqi soil.
On October 17, the Popular Mobilization Forces announced that it had controlled a fire resulting from the explosion of a pile of damaged equipment inside one of its headquarters in the eastern canal area in Baghdad, noting that the incident resulted in five people with minor injuries, and stressing that the investigation would continue to uncover its circumstances.
More than a week has passed since the incident without the results of the investigation being announced. However, an Iraqi government official, who is not authorized to speak publicly, said that the concerned authorities are still looking into the circumstances of its occurrence.
Chinese air defense
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the two sites were suspected of being subjected to an attack that destroyed a large shipment of Chinese-made air defense systems that had recently arrived from Iran and were transferred to Iraqi factions loyal to Tehran.
A source explained, “The armed faction that identified this site to store air defense systems believed that accessing or discovering it was very difficult,” adding that “the suspected attack occurred shortly after the shipments arrived at the two storage sites.”
Another source revealed that the explosion came after a series of explosions that began on October 1, targeting faction warehouses in various areas around Baghdad, including warehouses containing drones designated for suicide attacks and reconnaissance.
According to the sources, during the past few weeks, several armed factions have been active in transporting modern air defense systems and drones from Iran to Iraq and storing them in their sites.
Unconfirmed reports spoke of the transfer of secret shipments from China to Iran, including portable air defense systems that operate with thermal guidance and are designed to confront low-flying aircraft, including helicopters and drones.
On July 28, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs “categorically denied reports of sales or shipments of Chinese-made missiles and air defense systems to Iran.”
Repositioning
The factions' activity coincided with the participation of a number of them in the government formation led by Ali al-Zaidi, after it was rumored that an American green light allowed them to participate, after they obtained an extension to the arms control deadline that ends on June 30, 2027.
Two people close to the leader of an armed faction told Asharq Al-Awsat that “groups loyal to Iran were taking advantage of the declared truce with the Americans to reposition themselves and transfer strategic weapons.”
Israel may be behind the attack
It is still unclear how the strikes were carried out, whether by fighter planes or drones. Conflicting reports spoke of Israeli fighter flights, supported by refueling aircraft, across Iraqi airspace near the border with Iran, without independent confirmation of this information.
However, a security official told Asharq Al-Awsat that the authorities in Baghdad have enough to believe that Israel is behind the targeting of the warehouses, but they have not yet determined how to carry out the strikes.
An Iraqi official said that the government was busy investigating the incident due to the extent of the significant damage to the two sites and the surrounding areas, stressing that it did not yet have decisive information to determine who carried out the attack.
He added that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and senior military commanders are working to collect more information about the attack, and whether it is linked to reports of Israeli violations of Iraqi airspace that began after the withdrawal of coalition forces on September 30, 2026.
It was not possible to independently verify this information or the arrival of these systems in Iraq.
Asharq Al-Awsat sought to obtain a comment from the Iraqi government spokesman and officials in the security media regarding the bombing, the nature of the damage, and whether the investigations had reached indicators identifying the perpetrator, but it did not receive a response until the preparation of this report.
The war may have begun
A prominent political advisor said that the attack reflects an assessment by Iraqi intelligence circles that the resumption of the US-Israeli war against Iran may have already begun, but in a silent and unannounced manner across the Iraqi arena, by targeting the armed factions’ supply lines and cutting off the routes for transporting equipment to them, in anticipation of their participation in any new regional confrontation.
A leader in the “coordination framework” said that the leaders of the ruling parties had been suggesting for weeks that the resumption of the war between Washington and Tehran would begin by completely destroying the capabilities of the Iraqi factions.
The Iraqi factions focused significantly on the issue of violating Iraqi airspace when a truce was announced that coincided with the withdrawal of American forces. On September 30, the Secretary-General of the Hezbollah Brigades announced his commitment to halt military operations, but excluded what he described as “attacks linked to aviation and hostile air breaches,” until the government’s air defenses are completed.
On Saturday, the group that calls itself the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” said that it had “documented 171 air violations carried out by combat and spy planes since the beginning of October 2026.”
The leader of the “Frame” told Asharq Al-Awsat that officials in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had directed Iraqi faction leaders to make further preparations to establish a defensive line “against enemy fighter aircraft.”
