A Turkish court on Tuesday sentenced veteran journalist Zafer Arapkirli to more than two years in prison for allegedly spreading disinformation in social media posts criticizing attacks on Syria’s Alawite minority, the ANKA news agency reported.
The İstanbul 23rd Criminal Court of First Instance refused to suspend his sentence but released him pending appeal. The court acquitted Arapkirli of a separate charge of incitement to hatred and hostility.
The case stems from Arapkirli’s March 2025 posts on X criticizing attacks on Nusayris, a sect of Alawites, in Syria’s Latakia and Tartus provinces.
In his defense Arapkirli said he was being repeatedly prosecuted over his journalism on accusations such as insulting the president, inciting hatred or spreading disinformation. He accused the government of waging a campaign of judicial harassment to silence critics.
Arapkirli had previously been convicted in 2024 for insulting former interior minister Süleyman Soylu and current gendarmerie general commander Arif Çetin in social media posts, though he was also acquitted in March in a separate case accusing him of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Journalists in Turkey critical of the government or allied political parties have faced increasing scrutiny under laws criminalizing “disinformation,” “insulting public officials” and “disseminating terrorist propaganda.” Dozens of reporters remain in prison, and many more are the subjects of ongoing investigations.
According to Expression Interrupted, a press freedom monitoring group, 28 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey. The country’s deteriorating media landscape was further pointed out in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where it was ranked 159th out of 180 nations.
