Call for the release of journalists Alican Uludag, Merdan Yanardag, and Ismail Ari, arbitrarily detained in Türkiye

Three journalists, Alican Uludag, Merdan Yanardag, and Ismail Ari, are currently being detained in Türkiye because of their work.

The relentless legal harassment of Merdan Yanardag

On 13 May, the Istanbul High Criminal Court refused to release Merdan Yanardag, editor-in-chief of Télé1 - one of the last remaining TV channels critical of the government. He has been detained since October 2025 in Marmara Prison (formerly Silivri Prison) in Istanbul. The journalist has faced sustained judicial harassment, with a fourth legal case brought against him in five years, despite the Constitutional Court having already acknowledged the injustice of his previous detention in one of these cases.

In an indictment dated 4 February 2026, the Istanbul prosecutor's office asked for a prison sentence of 15 to 20 years for "political espionage," along with the seizure of Télé1. The journalist is unjustly accused - alongside Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and his campaign director Necati Ozkan - of having ties to an alleged foreign agent, Hüseyin Gün, during the 2019 municipal election campaign. Following the 13 May hearing, the court decided to request information from Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) on whether any reports exist regarding the defendants' alleged involvement in espionage activities, and ordered the continued detention of Merdan Yanardag until his next hearing on 6 July.

Turkish president sole complainant in case against Alican Uludag

Journalist Alican Uludag is due to appear before the Ankara Criminal Court on 21 May. A correspondent for the Turkish-language service of Deutsche Welle (DW), he has been detained since 20 February. He faces charges of "public dissemination of misleading information," "insulting the president," and "publicly denigrating institutions of the state" for writing or sharing 13 social media posts between 28 January and 3 October, 2025. In these posts, he notably denounced the arrests of journalists Furkan Karabay and Fatih Altayli, as well as the crackdown targeting mayors from the main opposition party (CHP). In this case, which exposes the journalist to a possible sentence of 19 years and 5 months in prison, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the sole complainant.

The indictment omits the fact that the journalist was questioned in police custody about a report aired on 18 December 2024 on Now TV - where he previously worked - which covered the repatriation of Turkish citizens affiliated with the Islamic State and criticised reduced sentences granted to the individuals convicted over the June 2016 Istanbul Ataturk Airport attack. His first hearing is scheduled for 21 May.

Ismail Ari: jailed for exposing political corruption

The charge of "public dissemination of misleading information" has also been used against Ismail Ari, a journalist for the opposition daily Birgün ("One Day"), who was placed in pretrial detention on 22 March. His trial is set to begin on 5 June before the Ankara Criminal Court. In the indictment dated 29 April 2026, he is also accused of "violating the confidentiality of an investigation." The case stems from a Birgün TV program he took part in on 16 January 2026, during which he denounced alleged corruption and bribery within the ruling authorities, the Erdogan family, and judicial circles. "This arrest is my 18th award," he said from Sincan Prison in the capital, Ankara, referring to the 17 previous awards he has received for his investigative reporting.

Türkiye ranks 163rd out of 180 countries and territories in the 2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index.