In the western Turkish city of Izmir, journalists Melike Aydın, Tolga Güney, and Semra Turan appeared before the same court in back-to-back hearings on Monday. The court lifted the house arrest imposed on Aydın and Güney for the past year but ruled that all three journalists would remain under an international travel ban.
The three journalists—Mezopotamya Agency’s (MA) Izmir bureau chief Semra Turan, MA reporter Tolga Güney, and JinNews reporter Melike Aydın—were detained in home raids on Feb. 13, 2024, and later charged with "membership in a terrorist organization." Their cases were heard on Feb. 10, 2025, at the Izmir 13th High Criminal Court. Representatives from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and fellow journalists attended the hearings.
‘The indictment was written by people who know nothing about journalism’
In her defense statement, Melike Aydın recalled being jailed for three months in 2019 on similar charges, calling the accusations politically motivated. She argued that wiretapped phone conversations included in the case file were related to her journalistic work and had been misrepresented as criminal evidence.
The judge asked Aydın, “Are you a member of the organization?” and “Did you write news reports for propaganda purposes?” Aydın denied the accusations, calling the questions an insult to journalism. The judge stated that he was required to ask them under the Criminal Procedure Code and reminded her of her right to remain silent.
The court lifted Aydın’s house arrest but upheld the international travel ban. Her next hearing is scheduled for May 12, 2025.
Semra Turan: ‘Words used in news reports cannot be considered crimes’
In a separate hearing, Semra Turan delivered a written defense, arguing that words cited as evidence against her—such as "Kurdistan" and "isolation"—had also been used by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli. "If the country’s leaders can use these words without consequence, then it makes no sense to criminalize them when journalists do," she said.
A secret witness alleged that Turan had ties to the outlawed organization.
The prosecutor presented his final opinion at the first hearing, seeking a conviction for "membership in a terrorist organization." Turan’s lawyers requested time to prepare their defense against the prosecutor’s arguments.
The court lifted Turan’s requirement to check in with authorities regularly but kept her travel ban in place. Her trial will continue on May 12, 2025.
Judge to journalists’ sources: ‘The police have checked everything about you’
The last case heard was that of Tolga Güney. The court listened to testimony from a secret witness and 10 additional witnesses. The judge asked Güney’s sources, “Did you know that the defendant was receiving orders from the organization?”
One witness, industrial engineer A.S.A., who had spoken with Güney for a news report on asbestos, responded, “I wouldn’t know that. I work on asbestos-related issues, and I speak with journalists as part of my expertise. My statements appear in newspapers and on television—it’s all public.” The judge then remarked, “The police have checked everything about you.”
Güney rejected the accusations, saying, “I don’t need orders to report on the tree-cutting in Akbelen—it happened in plain sight. Mezopotamya Agency is being criminalized, yet no case has been filed against the agency itself.”
His lawyers argued that his year-long house arrest had effectively turned into a punishment and called for it to be lifted. The court granted the request but maintained the international travel ban. His trial is also set to resume on May 12, 2025.
