RSF demands an immediate end to the police violence against journalists covering protests in Türkiye
At least ten journalists physically assaulted, at least five arrested, media outlets threatened and sanctioned — as protests rock the country after the 19 March arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul's mayor and main opponent of President Erdoğan, press freedom violations have multiplied. RSF condemns this unchecked repression of media professionals seeking to prevent coverage of news events and calls on the government to put an end to the crackdown immediately.
Since the beginning of the wave of protests against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu — the main rival of President Erdoğan — that have spread across the country, journalists and media outlets have been targeted by severe repression: no fewer than ten journalists have been physically assaulted by law enforcement according to RSF data, and dozens of others have been targeted with tear gas or rubber bullets. According to RSF information, at least five journalists have been arrested.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the violent crackdown on media professionals covering the protests in Türkiye. These attacks and restrictions on press freedom must stop immediately and all those responsible for this violence must be identified and brought to justice. We demand the detained journalists be freed and call on the Interior Minister, Ali Yerlikaya, to take measures ensuring the forces of law and order respect the population's right to information.”
Journalists arrested for covering protests
On 24 March, around 6 a.m., at least four journalists — including AFP photojournalist Yasin Akgul, photojournalist Bülent Kılıç, Now Haber reporter Ali Onur Tosun, and freelance journalist Zeynep Kuray — were arrested at their homes and taken to the Istanbul Police Department for questioning due to their coverage of the protests. In Izmir, a city in the west of the country, freelance photojournalist Murat Kocabaş was also arrested on 24 March for his coverage of the ongoing demonstrations and is being held at the Izmir Police Department's anti-terror unit.
Journalists deliberately targeted by police violence
Since 19 March, at least ten journalists have been physically attacked by security forces. On the night of 23 March, BirGün newspaper reporters Ebru Celik and Deniz Gungor, and Anadolu Agency reporter Murat Sengul, were severely assaulted by riot police who punched, kicked and clubbed them. Dozens of media professionals, such as Eylül Deniz Yasar of the channel Ilke TV and the photojournalist Kemal Aslan, were targeted by rubber bullets and tear gas fired in their faces as they covered the rally in front of the Mayor of Istanbul’s headquarters in the Saraçhane neighbourhood of Istanbul and student protests in front of Istanbul University’s Beyazit campus, in the Fatih district of Istanbul.
On the night of 21 March, while covering the police crackdown on young protesters near Sarachane Park, Yasin Akgul from AFP, Hakan Akgun from Anadolu Agency, and Dilara Senkaya from Reuters suffered police violence. Dilara Senkaya was punched in the head and Hakan Akgun was hospitalised with a broken nose. Ali Dinc, from the news site Bianet, was attacked while covering a student gathering in front of Istanbul University’s campus near Sarachane. “There were four of us journalists — they cornered us in Sarachane Park. Since I had my mask on, I wasn’t affected by the tear gas, but they started beating us even as we held up our cameras to show that we were journalists. We were clearly targeted for that reason. I have injuries on my legs and back,” he told RSF.
RTÜK threats and sanctions
In parallel, Turkïye’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has also cracked down on media coverage of the protests, threatening television channels that continue to criticise the government and judiciary in their reports on the public demonstrations. On 23 March, RTÜK President Abubekir Şahin issued a “final warning” to national broadcasters critical of the government, threatening them with severe fines and license revocation if they continued live coverage from protest sites or aired programs criticising the government’s response — following earlier threats made the previous day.
The council had already sanctioned Now TV, Tele1, Halk TV, and SZC TV on 20 March, ordering them to pay fines equivalent to 3 per cent of their advertising revenue from the previous month, due to programs and reports critical of the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu. The targeted broadcasts from SZC and Halk TV were suspended on three separate occasions.
In addition to these obstacles, journalists and civil society actors based in Istanbul were severely affected by bandwidth throttling during the first two days of the protests and sporadically in the days that followed. The slowed internet connection reportedly came at the request of the presidential office. Services on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp were particularly disrupted.
