19-21 March 2025
In Istanbul’s Saraçhane district, journalists covering protests that broke out after the detention of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu were subjected to police violence. During the intervention, disproportionate force was used, and members of the press, whose professional IDs were clearly visible, were directly targeted. Journalists were beaten, their cameras and equipment were damaged; some were shot with plastic bullets, while others were dragged on the ground and prevented from filming.
In this intervention, AFP photojournalist Yasin Akgül was among the journalists who were assaulted.
The violence against journalists sparked strong reactions from both professional organizations and the public. The Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) called on the Minister of Interior to instruct law enforcement not to obstruct journalists from performing their duties.
20 May 2025
In the case scheduled to be heard at the Istanbul 62nd Criminal Court of First Instance, the files of seven journalists on trial for covering the protests in Saraçhane following the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu were separated. Photojournalists Kurtuluş Arı, Gökhan Kam, Bülent Kılıç, AFP photojournalist Yasin Akgül, Now TV reporter Ali Onur Tosun, and journalists Zeynep Kuray and Hayri Tunç will be retried on 24 October on charges of “participating in an unlawful assembly and demonstration without arms and failing to disperse despite warning,” facing up to three years in prison.
24 October 2025
At the Istanbul 62nd Criminal Court of First Instance, the first hearing was held in the trial of journalists Yasin Akgül, Hayri Tunç, Zeynep Kuray, Bülent Kılıç, Kurtuluş Arı, Gökhan Kam, Emre Orman, and Ali Onur Tosun.
Journalist Yasin Akgül stated in his defense that he has been taking photographs in the field for 18 years and working as a journalist for 15 years. He said, “I have worked as a journalist in Syria and Iraq, but I was never detained in front of my children. A photojournalist must be in the field because that’s where the image is captured.” Akgül noted that he was part of the WhatsApp group used by the Istanbul Governor’s Office to inform reporters and emphasized that the footage in the case file was deliberately cropped, adding, “I was walking alongside the police during the protest,” clearly showing he was there as a journalist.
The court rejected the lawyers’ request for immediate acquittal, sent the file to the prosecutor’s office for the preparation of the final opinion, and adjourned the hearing to 27 November 2025.
Among those who monitored the hearing were Erol Önderoğlu, Turkey Representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF); Özgür Öğret, Turkey Representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ); and İzel Sezer, Executive Board Member of the DİSK Press Union (Basın-İş).