Turkey: Halk TV seized, broadcasts halted in alarming escalation of media crackdown
The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ- EFJ) joins their Turkish affiliates, the Gazeteciler Cemiyeti (GCD), the Journalists’ Union of Türkiye (TGS), DİSK Basın-İş, the İzmir Gazeteciler Cemiyeti and the Türkiye Gazeteciler Cemiyeti (TGC), in strongly condemning the appointment of a trustee to Halk TV and the suspension of its broadcasts on 14 October 2026. The federations denounce the move as a grave attack on press freedom and on the public’s right to information.
“Türkiye has woken to a bleak day for democracy and press freedom,” the GCD said in its statement.
Early today, police raided Halk TV’s building in Istanbul as part of a prosecutor’s investigation into the channel’s owner, Cafer Mahiroğlu, over alleged bribery, bid rigging and money laundering. The state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) was appointed trustee of Halk TV and companies linked to Mahiroğlu, and the channel’s broadcasts were halted. Journalists and media workers were prevented from entering their own newsroom.
Halkt TV is Turkey’s leading private opposition channel.The allegations concern its owner’s business activities, not the channel’s journalistic activity, and no court has ruled on them.
“One of Turkey’s most-watched news channels has been taken off air overnight, and its journalists were prevented from doing their work. Millions of viewers have lost access to an independent news source,” the IFJ-EFJ said.
The İmamoğlu trial
The takeover came on the same day that jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu began presenting his defence in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality trial. Nearly 19 months after the first wave of detentions on 19 March 2025, the trial is one of the most closely followed judicial processes in the country. The silencing of a major news channel at this critical moment raises serious concerns about the public’s ability to access independent news and information.
A pattern of pressure
It is the latest step in an alarming escalation of the crackdown on independent media in Turkey and particularly outlets critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government .
About one year ago, in October 2025, a trustee was also appointed to Turkish TELE1. On 30 September, an Istanbul court shut down the independent news site T24. In recent weeks, journalists have been jailed and placed under house arrest over their reporting on the fund scandal, while others face judicial harassment amid a crackdown on the LGBTI community. According to TGS, 17 journalists are currently imprisoned in Turkey.
Censorship is also moving online. In September alone, 1,270 X accounts were blocked in Türkiye, only 115 of them backed by a court decision, which is why the EFJ-IFJ and TGS have called on X to stop blocking journalists’ accounts without independent judicial oversight.
The IFJ-EFJ said:
“The situation in Türkiye is extremely worrying. Taking Halk TV off air on the very day Ekrem İmamoğlu begins his defence deprives the public of its right to information at a crucial moment. Together with the detention, house arrest and censorship of journalists, it sends a clear message of intimidation to the entire press. Using a business investigation to silence a newsroom is unacceptable.”
The IFJ-EFJ call on the Turkish authorities to:
- immediately end the trustee appointment and allow Halk TV to resume broadcasting;
- guarantee the editorial independence of Halk TV and allow its journalists and media workers to return to work;
- make public the full legal basis for the trustee decision;
- release all journalists detained for their work and end the use of judicial and administrative measures to silence the press.
