{"id":48406,"date":"2026-03-25T17:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/48406\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T17:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:21:09","slug":"turkish-bar-associations-press-groups-condemn-arrest-of-journalists-as-alarming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/48406\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish bar associations, press groups condemn arrest of journalists as \u2018alarming\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bar associations and press freedom groups in Turkey have condemned the arrest of journalists Alican Uluda\u011f and \u0130smail Ar\u0131, warning that their jailing poses a serious threat to press freedom and freedom of expression, Turkish Minute<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

Uluda\u011f, a reporter for Deutsche Welle\u2019s Turkish service, was\u00a0arrested<\/a>\u00a0on February 20, while Ar\u0131, a journalist for the left-wing BirG\u00fcn newspaper, was detained on March 21 and later\u00a0jailed<\/a>\u00a0pending trial.<\/p>\n

Fifteen bar associations, including those from Diyarbak\u0131r, Van and \u015eanl\u0131urfa, said in a joint statement that the arrests paint a \u201cdeeply concerning picture\u201d for fundamental rights in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe arrest of journalists presents an extremely alarming picture in terms of press freedom and freedom of expression,\u201d the bar associations said.<\/p>\n

They stressed that journalism is essential in a democratic society and warned that penalizing reporting undermines the public\u2019s right to access accurate information. The arrests, they said, risk creating a chilling effect, weakening public oversight and limiting access to news.<\/p>\n

The bar associations also urged authorities to respect the exceptional nature of pretrial detention and to safeguard journalists\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

Press groups: Journalism is being criminalized<\/p>\n

In a separate statement, press organizations said Ar\u0131\u2019s arrest reflects a broader pattern of treating routine journalistic work as a criminal offense.<\/p>\n

They said the investigation was based on Ar\u0131\u2019s social media posts, published reports and participation in public events.<\/p>\n

\u201cReporting, speaking with sources and investigating matters of public interest are not crimes,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

The groups also criticized prosecutors for referring Ar\u0131 for arrest without first taking his statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis arrest is part of an ongoing systematic policy aimed at criminalizing journalistic activities,\u201d they said, calling for an end to the use of criminal law to silence journalists.<\/p>\n

Ar\u0131 was detained in Tokat on March 21 while visiting family for the Eid holiday and later transferred to Ankara, where he was placed in pretrial detention on charges including \u201cpublicly disseminating misleading information.\u201d<\/p>\n

His family questioned the basis of the case after visiting him in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is my son\u2019s crime? Was he arrested for writing the truth?\u201d his father said.<\/p>\n

In a message from prison, Ar\u0131 also challenged the accusations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy was I arrested? Which of my reports were not wanted? Who was disturbed enough by my reporting to have me arrested during the holiday? Journalism is not a crime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A separate statement by press and free expression groups led by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) also condemned Ar\u0131\u2019s detention and called for his immediate release.<\/p>\n

Uluda\u011f, meanwhile, was arrested in February on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan in social media posts. He has been held in Marmara Prison in Silivri for about a month, and no indictment has yet been filed.<\/p>\n

A court cited flight risk and the possibility of evidence tampering in ordering his pretrial detention. Prosecutors had initially accused him of both insulting the president and disseminating misleading information, though he was ultimately jailed only on the insult charge.<\/p>\n

Journalists plan to gather in Ankara on Thursday in front of the BirG\u00fcn bureau to protest the arrests and show solidarity. The demonstration, organized under the slogan \u201cFreedom for \u0130smail Ar\u0131 and Alican Uluda\u011f,\u201d is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s media environment has grown increasingly restrictive in recent years, particularly for journalists covering politically sensitive issues or critical of the government. Reporters are frequently prosecuted under laws criminalizing insulting public officials, disinformation and terrorist propaganda.<\/p>\n

According to Expression Interrupted, a press freedom monitoring group, 26 journalists\u00a0are<\/a>\u00a0currently behind bars in Turkey.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s deteriorating media landscape was further pointed out in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where it was\u00a0ranked<\/a>\u00a0159th out of 180 nations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bar associations and press freedom groups in Turkey have condemned the arrest of journalists Alican Uluda\u011f and \u0130smail…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[16138,11390,26738,11968,312,12589,11960,27169,2033,131,132,155],"class_list":{"0":"post-48406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stockholm","8":"tag-alican-uludag","9":"tag-bar-associations","10":"tag-critical-journalism","11":"tag-freedom-of-expression","12":"tag-human-rights","13":"tag-insulting-the-president","14":"tag-ismail-ari","15":"tag-media-and-law-studies-association-mlsa","16":"tag-press-freedom","17":"tag-stockholm","18":"tag-sweden","19":"tag-turkey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116290970261547183","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}