Yeni Party's "October Press Freedom Report" was announced by Deputy Chairman Utku Çakırözer.
According to the report, 11 journalists were detained and six journalists were arrested in October. While a trustee was appointed to Halk TV, "fund fines" were imposed on the channels. 867 X account access denied.
NEW Party Deputy Chairman in Charge of Media Utku Çakırözer announced the "October Press Freedom Report". Çakırözer said the following about the report:
"The AK Party government, which covers up its own responsibility for the fund robbery worth hundreds of billions of liras, in which hundreds of thousands of our citizens were victimized, throws journalists into prison, appoints trustees to television channels, and blocks access to websites, just because they are investigating this robbery. We have prepared our October Press Freedom Report. Journalists had to appear before judges 50 times, mostly due to their news about fund fraud. 11 journalists were detained, six journalists are detained.
Of these, Şaban Sevinç and Mustafa Balcı are still in prison for publishing or sharing documents regarding fund fraud. İsmail Saymaz and Murat Ağırel were put under house arrest just because they questioned this robbery. Murat Ağırel was also taken into custody from another file and sent to prison while he was under house arrest. Due to the same issue, journalist İsmail Arı was sent once again to the prison where he had previously been detained for 75 days. Journalist Derya Okatan is also among the journalists arrested in October.”
"A trustee was appointed to Halk TV, Turkey's most watched news channel, in October, so that the fund profiteering would not be known or questioned, and the nation would not be informed of the facts. The broadcasting policy has now been destroyed. SZC TV and Koza TV were fined twice in October. Mainly for news and criticism regarding the fund profiteering. Again, journalists also faced compensation penalties for the news they made for questioning the fund profiteering and criticizing the government."
"Access barriers stand out as an important element in restricting press freedom in Turkey. Exactly 867
"This government, which did not prevent the fund fraud in Turkey and is its own partners in this, has instead targeted those responsible; it has targeted the journalists, websites and television channels who question this and try to make the citizens aware of the facts. No matter what pressure, censorship or ban it applies, this government will not be able to prevent the truth of this fund scandal from being revealed. We stand by the press organizations and journalists who are struggling devotedly to reveal these truths.
We shout once again that journalism is not a crime. We want the journalists who are detained in prison for this reason or for other news they have made to be released as soon as possible. İsmail Arı, Şaban Sevinç, Mustafa Balcı, Murat Ağırel, Derya Okatan, Tuğba Tekerek, Merdan Yanardağ and dozens of journalists whose lives were stolen should be released as soon as possible. Journalism is not a crime.”
In the report, the violations in the field of press freedom in the last month are listed as follows:
Journalists Şaban Sevinç and Mustafa Balcı, who were detained due to their posts and news regarding the fund investigation, were arrested. While İsmail Saymaz and our writer Murat Ağırel were given house arrest, they were arrested due to another investigation launched against Ağırel.
Disciplinary Board Member of DİSK Basın-İş Union, journalist Derya Okatan, and Birgün Newspaper reporter İsmail Arı were sent to prison on the grounds of their social media posts.
Hasan Güraksu, the owner of the local internet news site broadcasting in Burdur, was sent to prison because of the news titled "Is spoiled meat fed to patients in public hospitals" published on his site.
Journalist and Halk TV writer Bahadır Özgür was detained for his news about the fund investigation, Sözcü newspaper's website editor-in-chief Ercüment İşleyen and Responsible Editor-in-Chief Tuğba Nur Çelik were detained for a news article on the website, and Diriliş Postası writer Yiğit Uzun was also detained at his home.
An investigation was launched against our newspaper's writer Mehmet Ali Güller, our correspondent Batuhan Serim, Sözcü TV presenter Serap Belovacıklı, our correspondent Gülnur Saydam and journalists Rabia Önver and Ardan Zentürk, citing their news and social media posts.
Reports of journalists' fund profiteering were also used as justification for compensation fines. He filed a lawsuit against BirGün TV and Timur Soykan for compensation of 600 thousand liras, citing the broadcasts and statements regarding fund profiteering. A lawsuit was filed against Şaban Sevinç for 500 thousand liras.
A compensation lawsuit of 600 thousand TL was filed against BirGün newspaper and BirGün writer and program presenter Zafer Arapkirli.
A new operation was added to the operations against television channels on the morning of October 14. Police teams entered Halk TV's headquarters in Istanbul and a trustee was appointed.
While RTÜK imposed a 3 percent administrative fine on Sözcü TV and Koza TV for their broadcasts regarding the fund investigation, Sözcü TV was also fined for its comments on the arrest of journalist Murat Ağırel.
TELE2 News YouTube channel, founded by TELE1 TV employees, was closed because it could not make license payments.
Cem TV management ended the broadcasting life of the channel.
12 journalists working at the digital news portal Manşetiz, broadcasting in Izmir, were dismissed after they demanded unpaid salaries and meal card fees.
T24's access to T24 was blocked by court order, and RCC advertisements were also cut.
Access to 867 Among the accounts and content blocked were T24, EngelWeb, Freedom of Expression Association, Mezopotamya Agency, Yeni Yaşam newspaper, Halk TV's X account and Halk TV's YouTube channel.
The social media accounts of many journalists, writers, lawyers and economic commentators, especially journalists Alican Uludağ and Bahadır Özgür, were also affected by access barriers. Access barriers are not limited to social media accounts only. News about the arrest of Selman Reşitoğlu, news about photographs of the Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, and news about the assets of the Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek were also blocked from access.
