Türkiye: Release and drop charges against journalists Hamza Kaan and Mehmet Üçar
RAPID ACTION NETWORK - RAN 01/2025
21 May 2025: Journalists Hamza Kaan and Mehmet Üçar have been detained since 26 November 2024 on fabricated terror-related grounds for their writings. They will be tried separately on 3 and 8 July, respectively. Both face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
PEN International believes that Kaan and Üçar are being targeted solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and calls for their immediate and unconditional release. All charges against them must be dropped.
TAKE ACTION: Please send appeals to the authorities of Türkiye
Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Hamza Kaan and Mehmet Üçar, and for all charges against them to be dropped;
Urging them to end the prosecution and detention of writers and journalists simply on the basis of the content of their writing, and to immediately release all those held in prison for exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression.
Send appeals to:
Yılmaz Tunç
Role: Minister of Justice
Address: Ministry of Justice, Adalet Bakanlığı, 06659 Kizilay, Ankara, Türkiye
Contact: [email protected]
Send copies to the Embassy of Türkiye in your own country. Embassy addresses may be found here: https://cd.mfa.gov.tr/mission/mission-list?clickedId=3
Please reach out to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic representatives in Türkiye, calling on them to raise the case of Kaan and Üçar in bilateral fora.
***Please send appeals immediately. Check with PEN International if sending appeals after 21 July 2025. ***
Please inform PEN International of any action you take and any responses you receive. Messages can be sent to Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region: [email protected]
Publicity
PEN members are encouraged to:
Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting the case of Hamza Kaan and Mehmet Üçar and the state of freedom of expression in Türkiye;
Share information about Kaan and Üçar and your campaigning activities via social media.
Please keep us informed of your activities.
Solidarity
Solidarity is a key component of our campaign. Please send messages to:
Hamza Kaan and Mehmet Üçar
Eskişehir L Tipi Kapalı Ceza İnfaz Kurumu
Akpınar
26004 Odunpazarı/Eskişehir
Türkiye
Please consider sending Hamza Kaan and Mehmet Üçar books, magazines, pictures and postcards. Please do not use political symbols or send political content.
Background
Journalists Hamza Kaan (pen name Bilge Aksu, born 2 November 1986, from Istanbul), and Mehmet Üçar (pen name Miheme Porgebol, born 1 May 1991, from Batman) have contributed to several outlets, including Yeni Özgür Politika, a pro-Kurdish news website, and the montly PolitikArt magazine. Kaan and Üçar have been using pseudonyms amidst a mounting crackdown on freedom of expression in Türkiye. Kaan, who notably teaches literature in Istanbul, has conducted interviews with several poets and writers from Türkiye while Üçar has reported extensively on the plight of imprisoned writers in the country.
On 26 November 2024, Türkiye’s Interior Ministry stated that police had conducted simultaneous operations in 30 cities and detained 231 people suspected of having ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or alleged affiliates. Several journalists, writers and media workers were detained, including Hamza Kaan and Mehmet Üçar. They were subsequently transferred to Eskişehir, northwestern Türkiye, where the investigation is based. While some suspects were released under judicial control measures, Kaan and Üçar were officially arrested on 29 November on charges of ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’ under Article 314/2 of Türkiye’s Penal Code and Article 5 of Anti-Terror Law No. 3713. They face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Kaan and Üçar were first sent to Eskişehir H-type Closed Prison. According to their lawyers, they were both stripped and searched and deprived of access to food and clean water for 48 hours. They were subsequently transferred to Eskişehir L-type Closed Prison, where they are currently being held. An indictment was produced four months later. The charges against them mainly stem from their social media posts and articles they wrote for Yeni Özgür Politika and PolitikArt. Both outlets – which operate from Germany – strongly denied links to the PKK and called for the case to be dropped.
According to Kaan and Üçar’s lawyers, who visited them in prison, Kaan has not been able to access proper medical care to treat his gout flares. His trial is set to open at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul on 3 July 2025. Üçar has been denied basic items including paper, pens, books and weather-appropriate clothing. He is due to stand trial at the Batman 2nd High Criminal Court on 8 July 2025.
The situation for freedom of expression in Türkiye remains a grave concern. As documented in Identity on Trial: Persecution and Resistance – PEN International’s Case List 2025, over-broad counter-terrorism laws have been repeatedly used by the authorities of Türkiye to target writers and journalists who dare express dissenting views. PEN International reiterates calls on the authorities to end the prosecution and detention of writers on the basis of the content of their writing – including in support of Kurdish language and culture – and to immediately release all those held for their peaceful expression.
For further details contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International: [email protected]