A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced journalist Cihan Berk to six years, three months in prison on charges of membership in an armed terrorist organization, while ordering his release pending appeal under a travel ban.
According to the Bianet news website, Berk, a correspondent for the pro-Kurdish Pir News Agency (PİRHA), was convicted by the 1st High Criminal Court in the eastern province of Tunceli at the second hearing of his trial on June 3.
The journalist had been in pretrial detention since December19, 2025, when police raided his home, took him into custody and a court arrested him the same day.
The specific allegations underlying the case have not been made public, and it was not immediately clear which organization prosecutors accused Berk of belonging to.
However, Turkey frequently brings terrorism-related charges against journalists and media workers, often alleging links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades and is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
In his defense Berk denied the accusations and argued that the activities cited by prosecutors fell within the scope of his journalistic work.
“Journalism is not a crime,” he told the court.
His lawyers, Kenan Çetin and Doğa İncesu, argued that prosecutors had failed to present concrete evidence linking their client to any armed group and said the indictment relied on assumptions rather than facts. They maintained that the evidence presented could not support a conviction for membership in a terrorist organization and requested Berk’s acquittal and release.
After a recess, the court sentenced Berk to six years, three months in prison. However, it ordered his release from prison pending appeal and imposed a ban on foreign travel.
Representatives of the local branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD), one of Turkey’s leading rights organizations, as well as Berk’s relatives and fellow journalists, attended the hearing.
Turkey, which remains 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.
