An İstanbul court has ordered access blocked to an article examining corporate credit ratings amid Turkey’s investment fund scandal, citing national security and public order, the Kısa Dalga news website reported Wednesday.
The restriction targets a November 2 article published by Kısa Dalga in which journalist İbrahim Ekinci examined why credit rating agency JCR Eurasia had awarded investment-grade ratings to companies whose financial assessments had come under scrutiny during the scandal.
Ekinci’s article followed criticism from opposition New Party lawmaker Ümit Özlale, who questioned JCR’s ratings of 10 companies, including Tera Yatırım, Kontrolmatik and Pasifik Holding, and whether the agency had adequately assessed their financial risks.
Ekinci focused particularly on Kontrolmatik, an energy and engineering company placed under the management of the state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) in October. Kontrolmatik had a financial connection to Tera Portföy, a fund management company at the center of the scandal. In November 2025 Tera Yatırım Menkul Değerler, which owns 99 percent of Tera Portföy, acquired a 5 percent stake in Kontrolmatik. The transaction does not in itself establish that Kontrolmatik was involved in the alleged market manipulation.
Ekinci questioned whether JCR had adequately assessed Kontrolmatik’s financial risks, citing experts who disputed the agency’s assertion that its ratings complied with applicable regulations.
JCR had previously awarded Kontrolmatik an investment-grade national-scale rating but subsequently downgraded it to a default category in May 2026 after the company failed to make scheduled debt payments.
The İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of Peace ordered the access restriction under Article 8/A of Turkey’s Internet Law No. 5651, which allows authorities to block online content on grounds including national security and public order.
Kısa Dalga did not disclose the date of the blocking order, its detailed reasoning or which authority requested the restriction. It remains unclear how the financial reporting was considered a threat to national security or public order.
Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled in September 2023 that Article 8/A lacked sufficient safeguards against arbitrary restrictions by public authorities, finding that its application in a case involving a blocked news report violated freedom of expression and press freedom.
The investment fund scandal erupted in September when funds were unable to meet investors’ withdrawal requests amid investigations into suspected market manipulation. Turkey’s securities regulator ordered the liquidation of 131 funds managed by seven companies, affecting 455,758 investors.
The investigation has also implicated figures linked to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Former family minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, who until recently served as a senior AKP official, was jailed pending trial on November 6 on charges of violating capital markets law and belonging to a criminal organization. She has denied any wrongdoing.
The latest restriction follows court orders in October blocking 13 news reports concerning a government minister’s assets and the investment fund scandal, including two Kısa Dalga articles about parliamentary questions on the financial crisis.
Kısa Dalga’s X and Instagram accounts were also blocked in Turkey under Article 8/A on national security and public order grounds, although access to its Instagram account was later restored.
