A Turkish journalist was arrested after publishing articles alleging that officials in the central province of Nevşehir invoked the names of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya when pressuring local businesspeople for money, sparking criticism from press freedom advocates.
According to the Bianet news website, Can Taşkın, executive editor of the Nevşehir-based online outlet CT Haber and editor-in-chief of CT Haber TV, was detained on Monday and arrested Tuesday on charges of “publicly disseminating misleading information” under Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code, the Nevşehir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said. Police also raided his home and office, seizing digital equipment before transferring him to court.
The case stems from a column published August 31 titled “Who Is Collecting Protection Money in Nevşehir?” and a September 1 follow-up report headlined “Alleged Extortion List in Nevşehir! President and Minister’s Names Used.” In both pieces, Taşkın claimed that local bureaucrats exploited Erdoğan and Yerlikaya’s names to solicit payments from struggling entrepreneurs.
“Business owners in Nevşehir are unable to pay their debts, factories are struggling to cover salaries,” Taşkın wrote. “At such a time, instead of the state supporting business, I hear that some bureaucrats are collecting money. Worse yet, it is said that these payments are being demanded with the approval of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and under the instructions of Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.”
He appealed directly to Erdoğan and Yerlikaya in the column, warning: “Your names are being used in this city to collect protection money. While you try to safeguard the reputation of the state, your names are being exploited to pressure the business community.”
Press freedom groups denounced the arrest. Okan Geçgel, head of the Turkish Internet Journalism Association, said Taşkın’s detention was an assault on journalism. “Journalism is not a crime,” he said. “If a journalist is investigated for what they wrote, the legal process is clear: They are summoned and their statement is taken. Raiding homes at dawn, handcuffing journalists and intimidation tactics are a blatant blow to press freedom.”
Taşkın’s arrest follows a pattern of authorities weaponizing vaguely defined “disinformation” laws against critical journalists. The 2022 law, widely criticized by rights organizations, has been used to silence reporting on corruption, government abuses and local scandals.
Turkey, one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, ranked 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in May.
