Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into Rabia Önver, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish JINNEWS agency, on accusations of disseminating terrorist propaganda in social media posts related to her reporting, according to JINNEWS.
Önver gave a statement to police in Yüksekova, in southeastern Hakkari province, as part of an investigation launched by the district prosecutor’s office over posts she shared on August 25, 26 and 27 while covering a commemoration for deceased militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
According to JINNEWS, police questioned Önver about why she had shared the material, whether she had received instructions from anyone to do so and whether she had any connection to people appearing in the posts. They also asked whether any members of her family had links to the PKK.
Police also questioned Önver about a separate social media post featuring Halil Dağ, a Kurdish journalist and filmmaker who was killed in 2008 while covering PKK militants in northern Iraq. They asked why she had shared the post and whether she had received instructions from anyone to do so.
Önver denied wrongdoing, saying the posts in question were part of her journalistic work. She left the police department with her lawyer after giving her statement.
Önver was previously investigated in 2024 over reports alleging links between local officials and a prostitution and drug trafficking network in Hakkari. Police raided her home in September of that year as part of an investigation into the alleged dissemination of false information.
The Hakkari Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a decision of non-prosecution in June 2025, saying her reporting should be considered within the scope of press freedom.
Önver has also faced threats over her work. In October 2025 the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Turkish authorities to ensure her safety after she received multiple online death threats over her reporting on the activities of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Hezbollah in southeastern Turkey.
Designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, the PKK has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 but said in May 2025 it would disband and end its armed campaign. The Turkish Parliament in August established a special parliamentary commission to oversee the peace process.
Turkey frequently brings terrorism-related charges against journalists and media workers, a practice that has affected reporters covering the Kurdish issue, a reference to the demand for equal rights by the country’s Kurdish population and their struggle for recognition.
According to Expression Interrupted, a press freedom monitoring group, 23 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey. The country’s deteriorating media landscape was further pointed out in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where it was ranked 163rd out of 180 nations.
