Turkey recorded the third-highest number of press freedom violations among European Union candidate countries in 2024, with journalists facing mass arrests, censorship and intimidation, according to a new report released by Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR).
The MFRR report, published February 12, documented 135 press freedom violations affecting 317 journalists and media workers in Turkey. The country ranked third among EU candidate states in the number of violations, behind Ukraine (141) and Georgia (138). The report details mass arrests, judicial harassment, censorship and physical violence targeting journalists, particularly those covering elections, political corruption and Kurdish issues.
Judicial harassment remained the primary weapon against independent media, with legal incidents making up over 64 percent of all violations. Authorities continued to rely on arrests, detentions and criminal prosecutions to intimidate journalists.
A total of 51 cases of arrest, detention and imprisonment were documented, involving 128 journalists, making Turkey one of the worst offenders globally for jailing reporters. As of February 2025, 18 journalists remain imprisoned. Mass arrests, often conducted through dawn raids on journalists’ homes, were a common tactic to silence dissenting voices.
Journalists also faced criminal charges, investigations and civil lawsuits, many of which were filed under Turkey’s strict defamation laws or the recently established “disinformation law”. Reporters were frequently accused of “spreading terrorist propaganda” or “insulting the president and public officials,” vague charges often used to punish critical reporting.
A particularly alarming legal development was the reintroduction of the “agents of influence” bill, which would allow courts to increase sentences by up to seven years if a journalist is deemed to be acting against the “political interests of the state.” Although the Turkish government framed the bill as a transparency measure regarding foreign funding, critics likened it to Georgia’s controversial foreign agent law. The bill effectively classifies journalists working with foreign organizations as spies, further endangering press freedom. Following a public outcry, the Turkish parliament postponed debate on the bill in November 2024, but concerns remain that it could resurface.
At least 32 journalists received prison or suspended sentences during the monitoring period. Some of the harshest sentences, up to six years, three months in prison, were handed down on terrorism-related charges to journalists.
Meanwhile, journalists covering the passing of the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the Gülen movement, were targeted by authorities.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, who passed away in exile in October, since corruption investigations revealed in December 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan as well as some members of his family and inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch in 2016 that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
The climate of fear was further exacerbated by death threats against journalists. In September, investigative journalist Murat Ağırel received a threatening video on social media in which a masked man claimed that a contract had been placed on Ağırel’s life and that an execution order had been issued due to his reporting.
Journalists covering the murder trial of Sinan Ateş, a former leader of the far-right Grey Wolves movement, were also verbally harassed and targeted with legal action. Ateş was assassinated in Ankara in December 2022, and reporters investigating possible political ties to his murder faced intimidation and prosecution.
Journalists covering protests and elections were routinely subjected to physical violence, particularly at the hands of police officers. MFRR documented five cases of physical violence that resulted in serious injuries.
In February Azim Deniz, the editor-in-chief of Deniz Postası, was shot in the stomach and leg outside his home in what colleagues suspect was retaliation for his reporting. The attack raised further concerns over growing violence against journalists.
Kurdish journalists and media outlets were particularly targeted, not just by the Turkish government but also by private individuals. In December reporters Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin from Kurdish media outlet the Hawar News Agency (ANHA) were killed in a suspected Turkish drone strike while covering military clashes in northern and eastern Syria. Their deaths sparked international condemnation. In response, nearly 40 journalists were arrested while protesting the killings, with seven later charged with “disseminating terrorist propaganda” simply for carrying photos of their slain colleagues.
Beyond physical attacks and legal threats, censorship remained rampant in Turkey. The government-controlled media regulator RTÜK (Radio and Television Supreme Council) took aggressive steps to silence independent voices.
In October RTÜK revoked the broadcasting license of independent radio station Açık Radyo, effectively shutting it down. Authorities also blocked access to dozens of news websites and social media accounts reporting on politically sensitive issues.
RTÜK also imposed a broadcast ban following an armed attack at a police checkpoint in front of the İstanbul Çağlayan Courthouse, restricting independent media from covering the event.
The March 2024 local elections triggered a new wave of arrests, intimidation and censorship against journalists. Widespread protests erupted across the country, and reporters covering these demonstrations were frequently attacked by police.
In Van police detained multiple reporters covering protests after the opposition-backed Abdullah Zeydan was blocked from taking office as mayor. Police physically assaulted journalists and seized their equipment.
Police routinely used violence to disperse journalists reporting on election fraud claims, and 32 journalists were detained while covering or participating in protests.
Several foreign journalists were also banned from entering or leaving the country as Turkish authorities tightened control over election-related reporting.
Turkey has long been criticized for its press freedom record. The country is one of the world’s biggest jailers of professional journalists and was ranked 158th among 180 countries in terms of press freedom in 2024, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
