Representative of Turkuaz Media Group Serhat Albayrak has filed a lawsuit against academician and columnist Ceren Sözeri due to her article “Who caused the decrease on Justice and Development Party votes?” requesting 200 thousand TL for the damages.

The first hearing of the trial was planned to be held on March 4, however, since the presiding judge was on leave, the hearing was postponed.

The second hearing was held at the İstanbul 2nd Commercial Court of First Instance on October 7, 2020. The trial has been adjourned till February 3, 2021 on the grounds of deficiencies to be remedied (October 7).

At the hearing held on February 3, the court ruled that the heirs of Cemal Dursun, the late grant holder of Evrensel newspaper, should be registered in the file, they should be informed about the case by being notified through invitations containing the petitions of the parties and they should be granted the right of reply. The next hearing will be held on July 14 (February 3).

Scheduled for July 14, 2021, the hearing was adjourned until November 24 on the grounds that the judge was on leave (July 14).

Sözeri’s hearing has been adjourned until April 13, 2022 (November 29).

At the hearing held on April 13, 2022, the court ruled that a writ should be written to the law enforcement to inquire about the social and economic conditions of the defendants. The next hearing will be held on October 5 (April 13).

At the hearing held on October 5, 2022, the court adjourned the trial so that the deficiencies would be rectified. The next hearing will be held on March 1, 2023 (October 5).

In the 8th hearing of the case heard on March 1, the court decided to await for response to the writ previously sent regarding the report on the social and economic status of the defendants. The next hearing will be held on June 21 (March 1, 2023).