Media crackdown: Turkey seizes pro-opposition TV, arrests chief editor
3 Min Read
Turkey has placed pro-opposition channel Tele1 under trustee control and arrested its editor-in-chief, Merdan Yanardag, amid a spying probe linked to jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
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Riot police hold their shields as a supporter of Turkey's main opposition CHP shouts slogans during a demonstration outside the party's headquarters in Istanbul, Sept. 8, 2025 (AP)
Turkish authorities have seized control of the pro-opposition television channel Tele1, removing its editor-in-chief and restricting its content, in what critics labeled a new phase of Turkey's media crackdown. The move comes amid an espionage investigation targeting jailed opposition Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
The channel announced late Friday that a government-appointed trustee had taken it over. By Saturday, all hard news content had been replaced with documentaries and health programming, according to AFP correspondents. Tele1’s YouTube channel was also shut down, with earlier broadcasts reportedly deleted before disappearing entirely.
The trustee takeover was executed by Turkey's Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), which had been appointed as trustee over Can Holding, a conglomerate under investigation for fraud that includes several media outlets.
Tele1 editor-in-chief detained
Merdan Yanardag, editor-in-chief of Tele1, was also arrested in connection with a newly launched espionage probe into Istanbul’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. The mayor has been detained since March as part of a graft investigation widely viewed as politically motivated.
Imamoglu is expected to appear before a judge on Sunday over the spying allegations, the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said on X.
Yanardag, communicating through his lawyers, confirmed that his detention was extended by 24 hours. “This is bullying. It is eliminating press and freedom of expression,” he said, calling the developments “a sign the country is heading towards a totalitarian regime.”
Opposition condemns move as blow to press freedom
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel denounced Merdan Yanardag's arrest and Tele1’s seizure as a politically motivated act of opposition media censorship. He further called the espionage charges against Imamoglu “utterly absurd,” adding that Tele1 was targeted because “it reports the facts.”
In a post on X, Ozel accused the government of “trying to spread fear” across political, media, business, and cultural sectors.
Moreover, the CHP has called on supporters to gather outside Istanbul’s Caglayan courthouse on Sunday in solidarity with Imamoglu and Tele1, as concerns grow over the erosion of press freedom in Turkey.
This latest development fits into a broader pattern of government efforts to curb dissenting media voices. By placing a trustee over Tele1 and prosecuting its leadership, authorities have intensified a climate of fear that many say threatens the core of Turkey’s democratic institutions.
Read more: Turkey's Imamoglu warns of democratic crisis if barred from election
