Press freedom organizations have condemned Turkey for arresting journalists and imposing a media blackout as mass protests grip the nation following the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor.
At least seven other journalists have also been arrested in the last few days — although several were reportedly released on Thursday, including the AFP agency’s award-winning photojournalist Yasin Akgül.
International press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Turkish Journalists’ Association said the government was fabricating charges against journalists for doing their job.
“RSF condemns these scandalous arbitrary decisions, which reveal the government's serious interference in the judiciary, in a dramatic escalation of the crackdown on press freedom, which must now end,” it said.
Responding to his expulsion from Turkey, Lowen said that “to be detained and deported from the country where I previously lived for five years and for which I have such affection has been extremely distressing.”
He added: “Press freedom and impartial reporting are fundamental to any democracy.”
The BBC’s news chief, Deborah Turness, added that she will be “making representations to the Turkish authorities” over the incident and that the British public broadcaster will “continue to report impartially and fairly on events in Turkey.”
Reports of police brutality
Demonstrations erupted following Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s detention last week. Around 1,900 protesters have reportedly been detained amid allegations of police brutality and the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.
İmamoğlu has been named as the main opposition’s candidate to challenge longtime President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling alliance in the 2028 presidential elections. Erdoğan has branded the ongoing protests a “movement of violence.”
Baris Altintas, co-chair of Turkey's Media and Law Studies Association — a press freedom organization — told investigative news outlet Balkan Insight that many of the arrested journalists “had documented police brutality during the protests.”
She added that the Turkish government is doing what it can to prevent media coverage of the demonstrations.
“Since the first day of the events, we have seen an attempt to suppress the press, first by getting access block bans on journalists’ accounts and accounts that follow the protests and secondly, unfortunately, brutality towards press members at the protest site,” she said.
Social media blackouts
Around 700 accounts on the social media network X have been blocked, including those of journalists, broadcasters, civil society organizations and student groups, Balkan Insight reported. They include those of independent news outlet Bia.net, which has 365,000 followers, and journalist Erk Acarer, with 1.2 million followers, it added.
Court decisions have also blocked access to sites and have imposed internet blackouts, leaving many social media platforms, including X, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and others, unusable for more than two days as protests erupted.
Elon Musk’s X said it would appeal against court orders to block a number of accounts on its platform — but Altintas said this is unlikely to have any impact.
“It’s not very important if X appeals or not. They are complying instantly, and this impacts our right to information right now,” she told Balkan Insight.
Meanwhile, a member of Turkey’s media watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, said it has fined four broadcasters over coverage related to the arrest of İmamoğlu. Sanctions were issued against programs aired on pro-opposition channels, with one station, SZC TV, ordered to halt broadcasting for 10 days, Reuters reported.
