19 December 2025
A lawsuit was filed against journalist Nisanur Yıldırım from Nefes Gazetesi over her article titled “$150 million lottery hit the Minister’s company,” which reported on the private company owned by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. She is charged with “insulting a public official due to his duty” under Article 125/1, 3-a of the Turkish Penal Code, and “defamation” under Article 267 of the same code.
Following the article’s publication on 15 July 2025, Minister Ersoy filed a complaint. The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation and prepared an indictment alleging that the report included defamatory and insulting expressions, as well as unlawful and immoral statements.
The preliminary hearing was held at the Ankara 41st Criminal Court of First Instance.
In her defense, Yıldırım stated: “My article was about a hotel construction project undertaken by Minister Ersoy in the tourism sector. This is a private sector activity involving a private company. I was only doing journalism.”