A court in the western Turkish city of İzmir on Monday sentenced journalist Delal Akyüz to six years, three months in prison on conviction of membership in a terrorist organization, according to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), which represented her in court.
Akyüz, who did not attend the hearing, was convicted by the İzmir 13th High Criminal Court.
Charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” are frequently brought against journalists and rights defenders in Turkey and often refer to alleged ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
MLSA attorney Hazal Sümeli reiterated the defense’s earlier submission in Akyüz’s case, asserting that neither witness statements nor other materials substantiated the charge.
Akyüz, who works for the Mezopotamya news agency, together with Melike Aydın of JINNEWS, Tolga Güney of Mezopotamya and several other media workers, was detained on February 13, 2024 and later put under house arrest pending trial.
Aydın and Güney were acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
Turkish authorities frequently use broad counterterrorism laws and insult charges to prosecute members of the press. Turkey, which is one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists according to press freedom organizations, dropped to 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in early May.
