A Turkish court banned six Turkish journalists from traveling abroad after they gave statements to the police as suspects in an investigation linked to jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Turkish Minute reported, citing the Sözcü daily.
The journalists are Ruşen Çakır, editor-in-chief of Medyascope; Yavuz Oğhan, media advisor at the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) presidential campaign office; Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, a former columnist for Milliyet and a fellow at the Brookings Institution; Soner Yalçın, founder of OdaTV; Batuhan Çolak, editor-in-chief of Aykırı; and Şaban Sevinç, editor-in-chief of Bizim TV.
According to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, they were summoned to provide statements on allegations of “spreading false information publicly” and “aiding a criminal organization” in connection with reporting on what prosecutors describe as the “İmamoğlu profit-driven criminal organization.”
The journalists were questioned at the İstanbul Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit following a written order from the prosecutor’s office. Officials said their statements were requested as part of an inquiry into alleged “financial ties and cooperation” with İmamoğlu advisors Emrah Bağdatlı and Murat Ongun, both of whom remain in pretrial detention.
Lawyer Hüseyin Ersöz said the summons were based on testimony from a secret witness.
Following their questioning, the six were released under a travel ban, pending further investigation, Sözcü said.
Authorities have not specified which articles, broadcasts or social media posts are under scrutiny. The journalists have denied wrongdoing, describing the allegations as politically motivated.
The investigation into the journalists is part of an expanding judicial campaign surrounding İmamoğlu’s case, which prosecutors call Turkey’s “biggest corruption investigation in a century.”
İmamoğlu, the CHP’s 2028 presidential candidate and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief political rival, was arrested in March 2025 on corruption and espionage-related charges, just hours after his nomination. His detention, widely seen as politically motivated, triggered nationwide protests.
Since then, hundreds of opposition figures, journalists and municipal officials have faced prosecution as part of what the CHP calls a “judicial coup” to roll back its victories in the March 2024 local elections.
