In Türkiye, one of the country’s most popular journalists was sentenced to four years in prison for “threatening” Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Press freedom has become tighter in Turkey since populist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power.

Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli, one of the country’s most popular political commentators, was sentenced on Wednesday 26 November to four years and two months in prison for “threatening” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, media defense NGO MLSA reported. The man was arrested and imprisoned in late June after declaring, in light of opinion polls that confirmed that most Turks would oppose Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s possible leadership, that some Ottoman sultans were over. “murdered” Or “strangled”.

The journalist, who was held for five months in Silivri prison in Istanbul, was followed by 2.8 million subscribers in Prosecutors have asked for the 63-year-old journalist to be placed in pre-trial detention, arguing that his comments had threatened Turkey’s president.

While being detained by the police, Fatih Altayli admitted that he was only giving “elements of historical context”without meaning to threaten, according to several opposition media citing reports of the hearing. “The heavy sentence imposed on Fatih Altayli for comments taken out of context (…) constitutes an anti-democratic and unacceptable message aimed at intimidation”reacting on Wednesday Erol Önderoglu, representative of the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in Turkey, asked “release soon” from the journalist.

RSF ranked Türkiye 159th out of 180 in its press freedom rankings, ranking between Pakistan and Venezuela. According to media defense organizations, twenty journalists were jailed in 2025 in Turkey for their work, three of whom are still in detention and three others are under house arrest pending trial. Journalists and managers of independent publications or those close to the opposition were frequently arrested and their media outlets were suspended or subject to large fines.