With a raid on Halk TV, the fascist Turkish government is intensifying its attacks on critical media. Journalists, media rights organizations and opposition parties condemn the intervention as political repression. News portals had already been blocked and journalists arrested.

In the course of oneRaidAt the opposition-affiliated station Halk TV, the Turkish police took control of the station and its buildings and placed the station under receivership. On Wednesday, in the early hours of the morning, hundreds of police officers blocked the entrances to the station and employees were completely denied access. The police appointed a receiver, which put the channel under receivership and stopped broadcasting.

AsJustificationThe raid is based on a criminal court's decision to confiscate the companies of Halk TV CEO Cafer Mahiroğlu. In addition, 17 arrest warrants were issued by the Turkish public prosecutor's office. The suspects are accused of “bribery, manipulation of tenders and money laundering”, and eleven employees have already been arrested.

Halk TV director Cafer Mahiroğlu spoke of a “dark day for Turkey”. An arrest warrant was also issued for him, but he clearly described the allegations against him as unfounded. According to Mahiroğlu, the government under Erdogan is using Türkiye's judiciary to exploit it for political purposes. Despite this, he optimistically wrote on X: “We will get the station back.”

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Sharp criticism from media rights organizations, journalists' unions and opposition parties

The newly founded opposition party Yeni Parti, which emerged from the CHP, also strongly criticized the actions of the Turkish police and stated on X that the party stood by the broadcaster, freedom of the press and the employees and their families. “Breaking into a television station at dawn and appointing a administrator is something only dictators would do,” said Yeni Parti leader Özgür Özel on X. “Unfortunately, that’s exactly whatwhat they have done to our country.”

The co-chair of the media rights organization MLSA, Veysel Ok, also condemned the Turkish government's actions. The raid was “one of the most significant steps in the government’s efforts to monopolize the flow of information.” In another criticism, he formulated: "The position of Halk TV as the most watched news channel also shows the actual aim of this intervention: to deprive the public of their right to obtain news from various sources."

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The Turkish journalists' union TGS also condemned the repression and described the criminal court's decision as arbitrary. On X they appealed to respect the freedom of the press and emphasized that it should not be censored.

Co-chair of the People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Tülay Hatimoğulları,designatedthe decision as a political intervention to suppress the opposition media and explained: "This understanding, which arrests journalists, blocks websites and social media accounts and imposes receivers on opposition broadcasters, plunges Turkey into great darkness. The pressure you are putting on the population is unacceptable. The truth cannot be erased by receivers. Take back the decision immediately and stop the pressure on the press and press employees. We stand with Halk TV until the end and the media employee against the receiver.”

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DEM co-chairman Tuncer Bakırhan said: "This decision is a blatant interference with freedom of the press, as well as freedom of thought and expression. The people's right to information, one of the most fundamental principles of a democratic society, must not be hindered. These anti-democratic and illegal practices against opposition press organs must be stopped immediately. We will stand with all media and their employees who come under pressure."

Repression against independent media and journalists

However, Halk TV is not the only medium that has recently experienced repression. Just two weeks before the raid on Halk TV, another independent media outlet was blocked.T24also reported critically on the government and was one of the largest national online media. It was only at the beginning of October that T24 was blocked by the Turkish government on the grounds that the online medium had produced “LGBT propaganda”.

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In addition, there were also orders from a court in mid-SeptemberNumerous accounts on X blocked. This affects people from the LGBTI+ movement, journalists, lawyers and human rights organizations. At the same time, 26 people were arrested in raids on LGBTI+ people.

In the spring, several journalists from the Etha news agency were arrested as part of a large wave of arrests against socialists. During the search of the apartments and offices, the police confiscated laptops, computer hard drives and all digital devices and left the rooms vandalized. Among those arrested were editor Pınar Gayip and correspondents Züleyha Müldür and Müslüm Koyun.

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Turkey took first place this yearPress freedom rankingsfrom Reporters Without Borders once again one of the last places. Of a total of 180 countries included, Turkey came in 163rd. According to Reporters Without Borders, 90 percent of national media are now directly controlled by the Turkish government. However, this also led to the public turning more to critical and independent media in order to find out about, among other things, the effects of the crisis on the economy and politics. This also included the station Halk TV.

The leader of the Party of Labor (EMEP), Seyit Aslan, said: "The palace regime, which arrests journalists who demand the exposure of the fund fraudsters, appoints a receiver at TELE1, closes T24 and blocks the social media accounts of many press organs, including Evrensel, is stifling freedom of the press and at the same time robbing the population's right to information. With these attacks, the power is trying to hide crimes in which it is involved from the people “To hide from the eyes of the population, and at the same time to bring under control the working people who demand democracy, freedom and justice.”

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