Turkish police take control of opposition TV and arrest journalists

This Wednesday (14), Turkish police took control of the headquarters of the main private broadcaster opposing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and detained eleven employees. This is the latest episode in a broad government campaign against the media and other sectors critical of Erdogan.

The broadcaster and the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office released the information simultaneously, at the beginning of the day. "The police are at the Halk TV building. An administrator has been appointed [to take control of the company]. The live broadcast has been interrupted," stated the media outlet on the X social network.

The police began the search and seizure operation at around 5:30 am (11:30 pm Brasília time), preventing employees from entering the building.

"Arrest warrants were issued against 17 people, and 11 were detained in simultaneous operations" as part of an investigation into "corruption, bid fraud and money laundering", announced the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office. The administration of the broadcaster was entrusted to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), a public body.

In a video shared by Halk TV on X, editor-in-chief Suat Toktas can be seen talking to the appointed administrator to try to convince him not to stop the live broadcast.

"What is happening is illegal," he protested. Journalists and opposition press outlets are constantly targeted by Turkish courts for a series of alleged infractions, ranging from defamation and insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to corruption or the dissemination of false news.

In total, 17 journalists were detained, according to the category's union in Türkiye. "The arbitrariness used by political power in recent years to solve problems has, once again, affected freedom of the press. (...) We reject this tyranny", protested the entity.

"The appointment of administrators to command Halk TV (...) and the Judiciary's exclusive attention to critical programs suggest that independent journalism in Turkey may be on the verge of extinction", warns press freedom defender Erol Önderoglu.

For the opposition, this is an operation aimed at silencing one of the few outlets critical of Erdogan that still exist in Türkiye. "Invading a television station in the early hours of the morning and appointing an administrator is something that only dictators would do. Unfortunately, that is what they did to our country", reported in X, Özgür Özel, leader of the main opposition party.

According to Özel, the date chosen to attack Halk TV was not by chance: it is this Wednesday that Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul, imprisoned since March 2025 and President Erdogan's main rival, begins to present his defense in a broad process for alleged corruption.

The hardening also affects the political environment, with the arrest of several elected representatives from opposition parties, recalls Anne Andlauer, RFI correspondent in Istanbul.

The takeover of Halk TV comes two weeks after the blocking of the independent news website T24, one of the most important in the country, accused of "LGBT propaganda".

Furthermore, in mid-September, authorities carried out a broad offensive against entities defending the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, invading the headquarters of militant organizations and blocking their social media accounts. A large number of people were also arrested on various charges.