Journalist Fatih Altaylı Arrested: Freedom of the Press in Türkiye
- Dilay Kuyucak
- Jun 23
- 6 min read
On June 21, Fatih Altaylı was detained at his home in Istanbul for statements allegedly targeting President Erdoğan. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation based on charges of "threatening the president."
Fatih Altaylı is a prominent Turkish journalist, columnist, and television presenter, active since 1982. After quitting traditional media, he transitioned to YouTube, where he has spent the last two years posting daily political commentary and interviews and continuing his popular show Teke Tek, which garners millions of views every day.
It was during one of these commentaries, on June 20, that Emre—who asks questions on the current agenda—brought up a survey where 70 percent of people disagreed that President Erdoğan should stay president for life. Altaylı’s nearly 2-minute answer has been cut and edited into a 30-second clip that has circulated around, especially on social media. Below is a translated excerpt of the exchange (full exchange at the end of the article), with the part subject to investigation in bold.
Emre: Should President Erdoğan remain president for life? 70% of the people are against it.
Fatih Altaylı: That figure is pretty much what I expected because right now, aside from a significant portion of AKP voters and some MHP voters, nobody would approve of such a thing. (…) The Turkish people love the ballot box and want the power to rest with themselves. (…) And this isn’t something new either. Why isn’t it new?
Look at this nation's past—not even its recent past, its distant past. This is a nation that has strangled its own sultan when it didn’t like him, when it didn’t want him. A nation that has booed its sultan. There are quite a few Ottoman sultans who were killed, assassinated—let’s not say assassinated but victims of conspiracies—or strangled or made to look like they committed suicide.
So when you look at it this way, these people may give up on everything, or appear to give up, but they don’t like having their right to vote taken away (…) That’s why those who dream of establishing a true dictatorship here can never do it. Just when they think they’ve succeeded, they realize they haven’t. (…)
Altaylı was arrested and sent to prison for “threatening the president” on June 22. Journalists on Onlar TV—who are close to Altaylı—have stated that such a crime does not exist. More precisely, Altaylı was arrested for “attempted assassination of the president” under the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 310 and “threat” under Article 106. Journalist Barış Terkoğlu pointed out that Article 310 has only been used once before, in relation to the 2016 assassination attempt in Marmaris during the coup attempt, and applies to assassination attempts as well as any physical attacks, but not speech. Article 106 deals with “threats” in general, defined as “claiming that they will harm their life, physical or sexual integrity.” By the definitions of both of these articles, a historical comparison of the Turkish people’s long-standing democratic habits should not be classified as a “threat to the president.”
Adding to the sentiment that the arrest is a planned and unjust operation to silence one of the biggest and most popular voices in the opposition media, Presidential Chief Advisor Oktay Saral shared the circulating clip on his social media account, writing, “Altaylıııı! The water has started to heat up for you.” Many saw this as evidence of a coordinated campaign, suggesting the arrest was premeditated, with the government acting only after the video gained traction online. Altaylı’s attorney has added that decisions were already circulating on the internet before they were notified by the officials inside the courthouse.
CHP-leader Özgür Özel has commented, saying, “A palace advisor targets [him] in the morning (...), and the mobile guillotine is set in motion. (...) We are faced with a government that is afraid of journalists, afraid of young people, afraid of women—afraid of the people." Former AKP minister and Deva party-leader Ali Babacan said, “A country cannot be governed through oppression and fear.” CHP’s 2018 presidency candidate and Memleket Party- leader Muharrem İnce has also commented on the arrest: “Imprison your opponents, silence the journalist through detention, target whoever criticises… A state cannot be run with vengeance, hate, and threats.”
In his defense, Altaylı said, "I know the president personally. It never even crossed my mind that the expressions in my speech could be perceived as a threat." He added that his words were deliberately distorted to make them appear as a threat. On the other hand, a statement issued by the Directorate for Combating Disinformation states, "Altaylı’s remarks were made in response to a question about President Erdoğan, and their meaning is clearly evident. Despite this, claims that Altaylı was not referring to President Erdoğan and that he was recounting a historical anecdote are manipulative."
Altaylı’s arrest is the most recent of a number of investigations and arrests directed towards journalists in Türkiye. Journalist Özlem Gürses had been taken into custody in December of 2024 for “publicly spreading misleading information” and “insulting state institutions” over a slip of the tongue on her livestream. She received a house arrest and a travel ban and was later sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison. Journalist İsmail Saymaz was detained during the Saraçhane protests for Gezi Park investigations and accused of “aiding an attempt to overthrow the Government of the Republic of Turkey.” He was under house arrest for 56 days and let go under judicial control measures. SZC TV received a 10-day broadcast suspension for airing the Saraçhane protests; however, an administrative court suspended the enforcement of the ban. Journalists Murat Ağırel and Timur Soykan were both detained under the Flash TV investigations for blackmail and threats related to their reporting. They were released under judicial control. The arrests were not only limited to Turkish journalists, as a Swedish journalist was detained while covering the Saraçhane protests. He was in prison for 49 days, accused of “insulting the president” and “membership in a terrorist organization.” He was released later and left Türkiye.
Türkiye ranks 159th in the world according to the Reporters Sans Frontières’ 2025 press freedom index, placing it below countries like Pakistan, Iraq, Rwanda, and Venezuela. In terms of the “political indicator,” which measures the level of autonomy media has in the face of pressures from the state or other political actors, Türkiye is even lower at 162nd, behind Bhutan and just above Afghanistan. Altaylı's arrest is only one of the many that will potentially follow, leaving the chairs of the opposing voices empty, just like in the video entitled "Fatih Altaylı Cannot Comment" published on his YouTube channel today (June 23):
Annex—Full exchange:
Emre: Should President Erdoğan remain president for life? Apparently, 70% of the people are against it.
Fatih Altaylı: That figure is pretty much what I expected, because right now, aside from a significant portion of AKP voters and some MHP voters, no one would approve such a thing. Look, brother, you can be upset with the Turkish people for various reasons—you can be frustrated by the way they vote, their voting habits, and so on. You may even disagree entirely, even get angry like some do and call them “barrel-headed” or “the guy scratching his belly,” things like that. These are just personal opinions. The Turkish people love the ballot box, brother, and they want the power to lie with them. Even if they elect their own father and put him in office, they like holding onto the power to change him. And this isn’t a new thing. Why isn’t it new?
Look at this nation’s past—I’m not even talking about the recent past; I mean the distant past. Brother, this is a nation that has strangled its own sultan when it didn’t like him, when it didn’t want him. A nation that has booed its own sultan. There’s no shortage of Ottoman sultans who were killed or fell victim to assassination—not just assassination, but also conspiracy or strangling, or made to look like they committed suicide. So when you look at it like this, the people may give up on many things, or seem to give up, but they don’t like having their right to vote taken from them, nor their right to decide who will determine their destiny being permanently stripped away. That’s why those who dream of establishing a true dictatorship here can never succeed. Just when they think they’ve built one, they’ll realize they haven’t.
That doesn’t mean that 70% of this country hates Erdoğan. Sure, there’s a portion of the population that doesn’t like Tayyip Erdoğan—some might even hate him—but 70% do not hate him. But that 70% is saying, “Hold on a minute, brother. We gave you authority, but don’t turn this into a dynasty. Don’t stay there for life and then pass it on to your son, your son-in-law, or your nephew.” The Turkish people don’t want that. When you look back in history, you can clearly see they’ve never wanted that. The Turkish people have this mentality: “I matter. You’re there because I like you. You’re there because I’m satisfied with you. You can’t act like you’re above me.” And 70% of the Turkish people feel this way—this proves it.
Edited by: Ömer Gökce
