{"id":30865,"date":"2025-06-25T06:04:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T06:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/?p=30865"},"modified":"2025-06-25T06:06:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T06:06:25","slug":"journalist-fatih-altayli-arrested-for-threatening-erdogan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/news-feed\/journalist-fatih-altayli-arrested-for-threatening-erdogan\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish Journalist Fatih Altayl\u0131 Detained Amidst Free Speech Concerns, Denies ‘Threatening’ President Erdo\u011fan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Istanbul, Turkey<\/strong> \u2013 Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayl\u0131 was detained on Sunday, June 22, 2025, sparking fresh concerns about press freedom in Turkey. His arrest stems from an investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, accusing him of “threatening” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan with comments made on his YouTube channel during a broadcast on June 20, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Altayl\u0131’s wife, Hande Altayl\u0131, confirmed his detention, stating, “They took Fatih away a short while ago. We don’t know where they took him.” The Public Prosecutor’s Office later clarified that the investigation was initiated on their own accord due to “target-oriented, threatening expressions” used against President Erdo\u011fan in the said YouTube broadcast. Altayl\u0131 was subsequently detained at his home in Istanbul’s \u015ei\u015fli district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Altayl\u0131’s Defense: Context Over Threat<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After initial police procedures, Altayl\u0131 was brought before the Istanbul Courthouse, where his statement was taken in the presence of two lawyers. During an approximately two-hour interrogation, Altayl\u0131 vehemently denied any intent to threaten or insult the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that his comments on the June 20, 2025, broadcast were part of a discussion about a possible constitutional amendment, based on a public opinion poll. “I noted that the Turkish people have preferred to participate in governance through voting since the Tanzimat period and have not favored granting excessive and unchecked authority to a single person in advance,” Altayl\u0131 stated. He emphasized his role as an intellectual interested in history, pointing out that “even Ottoman sultans were criticized.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Altayl\u0131 asserted that his words were deliberately taken out of context and distorted, specifically noting that “approximately 30 seconds of the video were intentionally taken out of their original context and circulated.” He highlighted that historians like Murat Bardak\u00e7\u0131 and Erhan Afyoncu have frequently expressed similar views. Altayl\u0131 further offered a 3-minute original video to the prosecutor’s office, claiming it clearly shows no threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a 45-year career, Altayl\u0131 affirmed he has never threatened any public figure or citizen. “I know President Erdo\u011fan personally. In this speech, I merely exercised my right to criticize. Threatening is not my way,” he added. He also challenged the legal basis of the charge under Article 310\/2 of the Turkish Penal Code, arguing that it requires an “actual act,” not just expressions, and requested the investigation be halted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broader Implications for Press Freedom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fatih Altayl\u0131’s detention comes at a sensitive time for media freedom in Turkey. According to the Turkish Journalists’ Union (TGS), more than 10 journalists are currently imprisoned in the country. This situation is reflected in the World Press Freedom Index, where Turkey ranks 158th out of 180 countries. Altayl\u0131’s case is likely to intensify the ongoing debate surrounding freedom of speech and the press within the nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Istanbul, Turkey \u2013 Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayl\u0131 was detained on Sunday, June 22, 2025, sparking fresh concerns about press freedom in Turkey. His arrest stems from an investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, accusing him of “threatening” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan with comments made on his YouTube channel during a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":30866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1047],"class_list":["post-30865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-feed","tag-editor"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30865"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30869,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30865\/revisions\/30869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}