Hidayet Karaca, a former journalist and chief executive of the Samanyolu Media Group, has marked 11 years in prison in Turkey, Turkish Minute reported.
Karaca, who is incarcerated in Marmara Prison in İstanbul’s Silivri district, notorious for its large number of political prisoners, has spent more than nine years in a one-person cell. He used to run the Samanyolu TV network, which aired coverage critical of the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before his unlawful imprisonment in December 2014, a move that was described by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as politically motivated.
In 2017 Karaca was sentenced by an İstanbul court to more than 31 years’ imprisonment over the scenario of a TV series that was broadcast by Samanyolu TV on charges that include membership in a terrorist organization for his alleged ties to the Gülen movement.
The Gülen movement, inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen who lived in exile in the United States until his death in October 2024, is renowned worldwide for its contributions to education, social welfare and interfaith dialogue.
The Turkish government, however, accuses the movement of orchestrating a failed coup on July 15, 2016, a charge the movement strongly denies.
In June 2018 the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court handed down an aggravated life sentence to Karaca on charges of attempting to overturn the constitutional order. His sentence was later upheld by the Ankara Regional Court of Justice in November 2020 as part of a case that was launched against 75 people accused of links to the movement. On June 4, 2022, he was sentenced to almost 297 years at the end of a trial initiated by the government.
Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, since the corruption investigations of December 17-25, 2013, which implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan began to target the group.
Erdoğan’s government labeled the group as a “terrorist organization” in May 2016, before the failed coup took place, a designation not recognized by other governments and major international bodies, including the United States and the European Union.
Erdoğan intensified the crackdown on the movement following a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the abortive putsch or any terrorist activity.
The movement’s followers, also known as Hizmet (Service) supporters, say they have been unfairly targeted in a campaign of political persecution aimed at silencing dissent and consolidating power. The post-coup purge has seen hundreds of thousands investigated and tens of thousands imprisoned on terrorism-related charges widely viewed as politically motivated.
According to the latest figures from the Justice Ministry, more than 126,000 people have been convicted of alleged links to the movement since 2016, with 11,085 still in prison.
In addition to the thousands who were jailed, scores of other Gülen movement followers had to flee Turkey to avoid the government crackdown.
The Supreme Court of Appeals in a ruling dated June 28, 2022, decided to annul the aggravated life sentence given to Karaca on the grounds that he was in jail at the time of the coup attempt and was not involved in it. Yet the top court suggested the maximum punishment for him on charges of terrorist organization membership due to his alleged links to the Gülen movement.
Despite that, the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court again convicted Karaca and the other defendants on July 11, 2025, handing down aggravated life sentences on charges of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in 2023 concluded an application filed by Karaca for his arbitrary detention in 2015, saying that his detention was a violation of his rights.
The court ordered Turkey to pay 12,000 euros to Karaca in non-pecuniary damages in addition to 6,000 euros for costs and expenses. However, the ECtHR decision does not address the release of the journalist since it pertains to his initial period of detention, that is, his situation before being convicted.
After having exhausted all domestic remedies regarding the sentence Karaca was given, he and his lawyers filed another application with the ECtHR at the beginning of 2023. A request for his release can only be made after the conclusion of that application.
Turkey is ranked 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
