A Turkish prosecutor has issued a detention warrant for Salih Gergerlioğlu, a human rights activist and son of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) lawmaker Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, over his social media posts on a deadly school shooting.
The warrant was issued for Salih Gergerlioğlu, who is currently abroad, on accusations of publicly disseminating misleading information and inciting fear and panic among the public, according to the TR724 news website.
The investigation concerns posts related to a school shooting at a middle school in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş on Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring 20 others.
Among the posts shared by Gergerlioğlu was a video originally distributed by the pro-government İhlas News Agency, showing Burak Gül, the father of 11-year-old victim Yusuf Tarık Gül, confronting Kahramanmaraş Governor Mükerrem Ünlüer at a hospital.
Burak Gül, a former police officer who was dismissed by an emergency decree over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement following a 2016 coup attempt and was released from prison last year, expressed anger over both his previous imprisonment and the death of his son.
Following the issuance of the detention warrant, Gergerlioğlu set his social media account to private.
His father was also previously convicted for sharing a news article on social media about a potential peace process with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. While the original publisher, the T24 news website, faced no charges, Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals upheld a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence in February 2021. He was stripped of his parliamentary seat and jailed. The Constitutional Court later ruled in July 2021 that his rights had been violated, ordering his release and the restoration of his seat in the legislature.
The detention warrant is the latest example of authorities pursuing legal action over social media activity in Turkey, where charges such as spreading misleading information are frequently used to target posts that include criticism of government officials.
The US-based democracy watchdog Freedom House’s “2025 Freedom on the Net” report placed Turkey among the five countries with the steepest long-term declines in internet freedom. The organization cited broad censorship practices and intensified digital controls over the past 15 years, giving Turkey a score of 31 out of 100, putting it in the bottom tier of the 72 countries assessed.
