ISTANBUL (AP) — Two journalists were detained during dawn raids in Istanbul early Friday as part of an ongoing crackdown on media personnel covering Turkey's largest protests in over a decade, according to reports from their respective news outlets. Elif Bayburt, a journalist for the Etkin News Agency, and Nisa Suda Demirel from the Evrensel news website, were among the latest individuals arrested amid a broader sweep that has targeted political activists, trade unionists, and journalists.
Evrensel stated that Demirel was apprehended by police at approximately 6 a.m. at her home. She had been reporting on the protests at Istanbul City Hall and university boycotts. Following her detention, Demirel was taken to the Istanbul Police Department's Counter-Terrorism Branch office.
The demonstrations erupted the previous week following the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul's opposition mayor and a notable challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Imamoglu was jailed pending trial on corruption charges, which many view as politically motivated. The government asserts that the judiciary operates independently and without political influences.
Reporters Without Borders condemned the arrests of the journalists, with Erol Onderoglu, the organization's Turkey representative, stating, "There is no end to the detentions of journalists." The Turkish Journalists’ Union echoed these sentiments, calling for media freedom and an end to unlawful detentions.
Earlier in the week, 11 journalists had also been detained during raids. Though they were initially jailed pending trial, they were released on Thursday but still face charges related to participating in illegal rallies and marches. Alongside these events, Turkey's broadcasting authority imposed a 10-day airwave ban on Sozcu TV on Thursday, alongside fines and program suspensions for other opposition channels. A reporter from the BBC was deported the same day.
Protests across Turkey have led to a significant uptick in arrests, with nearly 1,900 individuals taken into custody since March 19, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. Anxious families have been congregating outside court buildings to await news of detainees, as police can hold individuals for up to four days without charges. Savas Ozbek, a father whose daughter was detained, remarked, "The youth we call Generation Z are more likely to participate in these protests. They sense that something is wrong."
Speaking from outside an Ankara courthouse, Zeynep Ulger expressed her frustration over the protests, stating, "The only thing we have achieved in the face of this is being beaten by the police on the streets and being detained." Istanbul-based lawyer Arif Anil Ozturk, who represents numerous detained protesters, described the court proceedings as unlawful, saying, "There is no evidence, no footage. Children are being treated like terrorists."
As the nighttime rallies organized by Imamoglu's Republican People’s Party (CHP) concluded on Tuesday, protests in other cities since that time have been largely peaceful yet organic. However, police have responded aggressively, deploying tear gas, water cannons, and plastic pellets to suppress demonstrations in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir that have been deemed illegal.
In a separate incident, nine students were detained early Friday on the campus of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. Local opposition politicians reported that students had set up tents on campus, prompting police intervention. CHP Provincial Chairperson Umit Erkol stated on social media that the police's actions created an atmosphere of fear.
Furthermore, the Istanbul Bar Association disclosed that three lawyers were among over 100 individuals arrested during a Thursday demonstration in the Sisli district of Istanbul. The lawyers reported waiting for hours outside police headquarters to gain access to detainees. In a continuing trend, Imamoglu's lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, was detained recently under accusations of money laundering—a claim that Imamoglu characterized as based on "fictitious grounds."
Notably, Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk criticized the recent events as indicative of "Erdogan's strong-fisted, autocratic rule" at an unprecedented level. Concern from the international community was voiced by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who described the situation in Turkey as "disturbing" and stressed the need for stability.
Imamoglu faces charges stemming from two investigations related to the opposition-controlled Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality involving corruption and alleged support for terrorism. Confirmed as the CHP's presidential candidate for the 2028 election—though it may occur sooner—Imamoglu has consistently maintained a strong showing in polls against Erdogan, having previously dealt a substantial blow to the president with his election as mayor in 2019.
