Istanbul, October 14, 2026—Turkish authorities must immediately return control of Halk TV, one of the few remaining media voices critical of the government, to its staff and cease their relentless efforts to stifle the free flow of information in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
Police officers
raided
Halk TV’s headquarters in Istanbul
Wednesday morning
, stopping live broadcasts and preventing staff from entering the building, although some posted on X that they were later allowed in.
Halk TV
said
on X that authorities assigned a trustee, or administrator, to take over the outlet, while news reports
said
the raid was linked to a criminal investigation into owner
Cafer Mahiroğlu
, whose other assets were seized as well.
Mahiroğlu, who lives abroad, said in a
video message
on X that seven of his relatives in Turkey were in police custody, and that the accusations against him were false.
“Seizing Halk TV strikes at the heart of press freedom in Turkey where the vast majority of news outlets are pro-government. Halk TV is one of the very few remaining broadcasters that criticize the government and this action is a devastating blow to the Turkish people’s right to freedom of information and expression,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Control of Halk TV must immediately be returned to its staff and this deeply alarming and damaging crackdown on journalism must end.”
Turkey is witnessing an intense and sustained
crackdown
on independent and pro-opposition media, with dozens of journalists
arrested
or detained so far this year. Turkish authorities have also
blocked access
to thousands of social media accounts belonging to journalists and rights defenders. In October last year, authorities also
seized
the TELE1 broadcaster and appointed a trustee.
At the time of publication, Halk TV’s
website
and its
social
media
accounts
were still being run by staff while the TV station was
broad
