AZİZ ORUÇ
Journalist İsmail Arı is under investigation after publishing a report involving the cousin of Mustafa Doğan İnal, former lawyer of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The investigation, initiated upon İnal’s complaint, follows a 100,000 TL compensation lawsuit that İnal filed against Arı and BirGün newspaper a month earlier, in response to Arı’s article titled “The teacher he yelled at was dying!” published on September 24, 2024.
The report highlighted an incident in which Necla İnal, a school principal and cousin of Mustafa Doğan İnal, allegedly reprimanded a female teacher to the point that she required hospitalization. The school administration reportedly did not call an ambulance, prompting the Ministry of National Education (MEB) to launch an investigation. İnal claims the article aimed to humiliate and target him in the eyes of the public.
Reacting to the legal actions, Arı told the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA): “The only reason for this investigation is that I reported on Erdoğan’s former lawyer Doğan İnal’s cousin. My story was accurate and verified, with official documents, and even the National Education Directorate has confirmed an investigation is underway. Yet, despite this, I am now facing a possible lawsuit. We continue our journalism under this pressure.”
Mustafa Doğan İnal, previously associated with allegations related to a so-called "FETÖ market," filed the initial lawsuit through his attorney, Ferah Yıldız, claiming he was being publicly humiliated and unfairly targeted.
