Turkey detains journalists covering protests over the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu
The 19 March 2025 arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief political rival, triggered Turkey’s largest protests in more than a decade. In the following days, police detained several journalists covering the demonstrations, including AFP photographer Yasin Akgül.
The journalists were accused of taking part in illegal gatherings. Following pressure from press organizations and their own outlets, a court ordered their release days later. Authorities also throttled bandwidth on several social networks, and the broadcasting authority warned TV channels over their coverage.
Turkey consistently ranks among the countries with the most jailed journalists in the world, according to CPJ’s annual census.