Turkish journalist and author Enver Aysever was arrested on Thursday on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity or insulting the public” due to his remarks on a YouTube program criticizing people who embrace a right-wing ideology, Turkish Minute reported, citing the Anka news agency.
Aysever, 54, was detained late Wednesday due to his comments on his YouTube channel about the recent remarks of Hasan İmamoğlu, the father of jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who told the Sözcü newspaper this week that he deeply regrets having fought against communism his entire life.
The elder İmamoğlu said there is no need for communism to threaten property rights as he criticized the government’s seizure of the family’s assets following his son’s arrest in what many see a politically motivated corruption probe targeting the İstanbul Municipality.
In his video Aysever criticized Hasan İmamoğlu’s remarks, arguing that people who embrace left-wing ideology pose no threat while accusing right-wing supporters of being immoral.
“Being right wing is a crime. When you are right wing, you become immoral. Your morality becomes immorality,” he said, calling on everyone to join the fight against right-wingers.
He claimed that the right-wing ideology has no standards and no conscience while accusing it of exploiting religion and nationalism.
“When you see a conscientious person, even if they are religious, they are left wing. A person with a conscience is left wing,” he said.
Following a growing online backlash, Aysever said his words were misrepresented and denied insulting broad political groups.
He said his criticism was aimed at “those who exploit the state, destroy nature, use religion insincerely or enrich themselves through public tenders.”
Aysever said he was targeted by users who had not watched the full broadcast. He has more than 270,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.
The İstanbul court ordered his arrest despite the journalist clarifying his remarks.
Since 2002 Turkey has been ruled by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), which describes itself as conservative-democratic but is accused by its critics of being nationalist, conservative and right-wing populist.
Under AKP rule, journalists frequently face criminal charges due to their views or professional work.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) logged 24 cases of journalists detained in Turkey in 2025, including YouTube hosts, television anchors and the staff of a leading satirical magazine, under a barometer that RSF says records abuses linked to journalistic work.
The Paris-based watchdog’s “abuses in real time” database lists 24 Turkish journalists who were detained or put under house arrest between January and December 2025, with three still behind bars at year’s end.
Following Aysever’s arrest, that number has risen to four.
Turkey is ranked 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, published by RSF in May.
