Türkiye: PEN member Merdan Yanardağ held on espionage charges
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‘By arresting PEN member Merdan Yanardağ on ludicrous espionage charges and appointing a trustee to TELE 1, the authorities clearly intend to wipe out what is left of critical journalism in Türkiye. We stand with Yanardağ and urge the government to halt its pervasive assault on press freedom,’ said Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President.
05 November 2025 – The authorities of Türkiye should immediately release prominent PEN Türkiye member and editor-in-chief of the critical broadcaster TELE 1, Merdan Yanardağ, PEN International said today. The organisation believes that Yanardağ is being targeted on account of his journalistic work and calls for all charges against him to be dropped. The authorities should reverse their decision to place TELE 1 under trustee control and uphold media freedom.
Merdan Yanardağ, 64, was detained by police at his home in Istanbul on 24 October 2025 and formally arrested on 27 October on charges of ‘espionage’ under Article 328/1 of Türkiye’s Criminal Code, which carries between 15 and 20 years in prison. He denies any wrongdoing. The investigation, which sees him accused of ‘manipulating the 2019 local elections in cooperation with foreign intelligence services’ notably involves Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been held in pre-trial detention on politically-motivated grounds since March 2025, triggering mass protests across the country. The authorities subsequently appointed a trustee to TELE 1 – one of the few remaining critical news outlets in Türkiye – prompting the collective resignation of TELE 1 staff amid a national outcry.
Yanardağ and TELE1 have been repeatedly targeted by the authorities of Türkiye throughout the years, including through arbitrary fines and criminal prosecution. Already on 4 October 2023, a court in Istanbul found Yanardağ guilty of ‘making propaganda for a terrorist organisation,’ and sentenced him to two years and six months in prison, after Yanardağ spoke about the peace process between the government and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in a broadcast of TELE 1 in June 2023. He was detained for over 100 days. On 3 November 2025, Türkiye’s Constitutional Court ruled that Yanardağ’s pre-trial detention violated his right to liberty and security and ordered the government to pay 166,500 Turkish lira (approximately USD3,950) in compensation.
Over the past two decades, Türkiye’s government has captured more than 95% of the media landscape and unleashed a crackdown on independent media. PEN International reiterates its calls on the authorities to uphold their national and international obligations, including by ending all attacks and pressure on media, writers, and journalists, and releasing all those held solely for peacefully expressing their views.
Note to editors:
For further details contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International
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