Turkish prosecutors have indicted journalist Mehmet Murat Yıldırım on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his reporting and social media posts, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) reported.
The indictment cites articles published on Özgür Yurttaş Haber, a new website where Yıldırım serves as editor, as well as related social media posts, including coverage of protests following the detention of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, who was arrested in March 2025 on corruption charges critics say are politically motivated.
Among the items cited as evidence were reports on calls for boycotts and on the detention of young protestors and journalists during demonstrations that erupted after İmamoğlu’s detention.
Prosecutors also listed two of Yıldırım’s earlier articles in the indictment, including one on attacks targeting Alevis in Syria and another critical of Erdoğan’s 15 years in power.
Yıldırım denied the charges, saying criticism is not a crime and describing his remarks about what he called “one-man rule” as political commentary.
An Ankara Criminal Court of First Instance accepted the indictment and scheduled the first hearing for September 8.
In Turkey thousands of people are investigated, prosecuted or convicted of insulting president, which is a criminal offense under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code. Whoever insults the president can face up to four years in prison, a sentence that can be increased by one-sixth if the crime was committed through the mass media.
The law has been criticized by human rights and press freedom advocates, who say it is used to prosecute journalists, politicians and ordinary citizens for expressing views critical of the president or even satirizing him indirectly.
In a separate case, Yıldırım is also on trial on charges of disseminating the propaganda of a terrorist organization, in his reporting and social media posts. The first hearing in that case is scheduled for April 9.
Yıldırım is also among the journalists whose X accounts were blocked on March 25.
In Turkey, journalists 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.
