Turkey’s broadcast regulator has fined Sözcü TV for airing remarks by the leader of the country’s main opposition party about the justice minister, a sanction that an opposition member of the regulator says amounted to taking sides in a political dispute, Turkish Minute reported.
The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) imposed a 1 percent administrative fine on Sözcü TV over comments made by Özgür Özel, then-leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), during an interview about Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, RTÜK member İlhan Taşcı said Thursday. Özel was later ousted as CHP leader by a controversial court ruling that nullified the party’s 2023 internal vote.
The CHP has been the focus of a growing judicial and political crackdown since it defeated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling party in the 2024 local elections, a crackdown that culminated in the March 2025 arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s main political rival.
Taşcı said the council found that the broadcast violated a legal provision requiring broadcasters to maintain impartiality, accuracy and truthfulness and not obstruct the free formation of public opinion. The fine equals 1 percent of the broadcaster’s gross advertising revenue for the month before the alleged violation was detected.
During the interview Özel alleged that Gürlek was speaking with Erdoğan over an encrypted phone and feeding him information about judicial proceedings. He also claimed Gürlek had recorded Erdoğan’s voice as a form of protection.
The sanction effectively penalized the broadcast of political speech by the leader of Turkey’s largest opposition party about a sitting justice minister.
“RTÜK has acted as Akın Gürlek’s lawyer,” Taşcı said, adding that the watchdog had behaved like a political institution rather than a regulator.
Taşcı said Gürlek had legal remedies available, such as a denial, correction or right of reply, if he disputed Özel’s claims. Instead, he said, RTÜK punished the broadcaster that aired the opposition leader’s remarks.
Gürlek, a former İstanbul chief public prosecutor, was appointed justice minister in February. He had previously overseen investigations targeting CHP figures, including İmamoğlu. The opposition says prosecutors and courts are being used to sideline Erdoğan’s rivals.
RTÜK also fined Halk TV over comments made on the program “Para Siyaset” by journalists İbrahim Kahveci and İsmail Saymaz, who had raised concerns that elections might not be held in Turkey. Taşcı said the council cited the same provision on truthfulness and the free formation of public opinion in that decision.
The fines come amid a political crisis within the CHP following a May court ruling that invalidated the party’s 2023 congress, at which Özel had defeated former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. That ruling effectively removed Özel and reinstated Kılıçdaroğlu as leader, in a decision critics view as a move by Erdoğan to pick his rivals.
RTÜK has the authority to fine broadcasters, suspend programs and impose other sanctions for content it says violates Turkish broadcasting law. Critics say the regulator disproportionately targets outlets critical of the government.
