Urgent call on Turkish authorities to release detained journalists

UNI Global Union, together with its affiliate, the Journalists’ Union of Türkiye (TGS), is calling on Turkish authorities to immediately release four journalists who were detained following early morning police raids at their homes on 18 February.

Ercüment Akdeniz, a presenter at İlke TV; Elif Akgül, an independent journalist; Ender İmrek, a reporter and writer; and Yıldız Tar, editor-in-chief of Kaos GL, were taken under custody as part of a broad crackdown on the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), an umbrella organization for left-wing and pro-Kurdish groups.

In total, around 50 people, including artists, activists and politicians, were detained in an operation led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office that spanned ten provinces. According to reports, the four have been denied access to a lawyer and information about the investigation has been denied under a ‘confidentiality order’.

On 22 February, three of the four detained journalists were arrested on terrorism-related charges, while Ender İmrek is under house arrest.

 UNI Global Union General Secretary, Christy Hoffman, said:

“We condemn the unjust detentions of the four journalists in the strongest possible terms and join our affiliate TGS in calling for their immediate release. Press freedom is a crucial part of democracy and journalism is not a crime. We stand in solidarity with TGS and all media workers, and urge the Turkish authorities to stop targeting and prosecuting journalists.”

According to the latest figures shared by TGS, 23 journalists and media workers are now in prison under spurious charges in an alarming escalation against press freedom in Turkey.

Photo: Journalists Yıldız Tar, Elif Akgül, Ender İmrek and Ercüment Akdeniz were detained in Istanbul on February 18, 2025. Credit: Journo.com.tr