The AKP government, led by pro-government President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, continues to violate the rule of law in Turkey.
Following Erdoğan’s order to “shake up the CHP, the main opposition party,” the AKP government has been attempting for a year to silence the opposition CHP through illegal legal proceedings. To this end, it has imprisoned numerous CHP mayors, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, a popular figure among Turkish voters and the CHP’s presidential candidate. It is also using every means to silence the few remaining independent media outlets that continue to report the truth to the public.
More recently, Merdan Yanardağ, editor-in-chief of the Tele1 television channel, whose every broadcast has been closely monitored and who has been subjected to heavy fines and broadcast suspensions for various reasons, was arrested for “espionage.” A few hours later, an administrator was appointed to head Tele1 Television before Yanardağ’s testimony was obtained without a warrant. Last Friday evening (October 24, 2025), the first action of the board of directors, chaired by İbrahim Paşalı, a former contributor to the pro-government newspaper Yeni Şafak, was to interrupt the main news broadcast; the presenter, Murat Taylan, had to cut the program short. The board of directors, having accessed Tele1’s archives, broadcast pre-prepared programs, and two days later, editor-in-chief Merdan Yanardağ was arrested and imprisoned. The country’s recognized legal community declared the action completely illegal and asserted that it aimed to silence the independent press and media. Respected journalists, lawyers, and viewers of Tele1 reacted strongly to the case, calling it a conspiracy and stating that the station was fulfilling its duty to inform by writing and telling the truth, and that Merdan Yanardağ could not be considered a “spy.” A significant number of prominent figures and employees of Tele1 resigned en masse, stating that the trustee’s administration had decided to deny them the right to handle information as they saw fit. The staff, anchormen, anchorwomen, journalists, including Evren Özalkuş, Burçin Atılgan, Murat Taylan, Zeynel Lüle, Mahir Baş, Salim Şen, Mehmet Ali Güller, Namık Koçak, Musa Özuğurlu, Ersin Eroğlu, and Zafer Arapkirli, as well as senior management and behind-the-scenes workers, also resigned, declaring: “We will not give in” to the trustee administration.
In a statement read outside the Tele1 studios, Murat Taylan said:
“We will not give up! Tele1 was launched in 2017 under the leadership of Merdan Yanardağ, with the principles of press freedom and fidelity to the truth.
We have denounced censorship, oppression, and obscurantism.
Thanks to our television station, our website, and our social media, we became the voice of truth in this country.
For eight years, we hosted hundreds of journalists and thousands of guests. We defended the interests of the people. We supported workers, nature, and the oppressed. We began broadcasting during the state of emergency declared after July 15 and remained steadfast despite threats, economic blockades, and political pressure.
On October 24, an administrator was appointed to head Tele1, whose editorial line had made it a target of the government. Our editor-in-chief, Merdan Yanardağ, was arrested on an absurd charge.
The law was flouted. Once again, a blow to press freedom. It was killed.
The first action of the trustee administration was to silence our television news program.
Tele1, one of the last democratic channels in the country, now broadcasts only documentaries.
We will not allow a channel that considers journalism an honor and that defends the public’s access to the truth in Turkey to be transformed into a media outlet that talks about nothing.
We cannot accept an editorial approach that undermines our honor, beyond what we have always done.
Therefore, we do not recognize the new editorial direction imposed on Tele1 by the trustee administration. We reject this obscurantism.
The presenters, managers, editors of Tele1.com.tr, and some of our colleagues working behind the scenes are now leaving Tele1 under the trustee administration. We will not be silenced. We will not sell out. We will not submit. We will continue to defend journalism, the right to information, freedom, and democracy.
“We will find a solution, or we will create one!”
Thank you to everyone who has supported us, who has amplified our voices, and whose hearts have resonated with ours throughout this process.
Our path is clear: we will not capitulate; we will continue to stand firmly against the truth.
This team will continue to contribute to Turkey’s struggle for democracy at every opportunity. And we believe that when we have dispelled this darkness, Tele1’s broadcasting philosophy will be reborn, and as an independent, free, and principled channel, it will pick up where it left off, on the path to truth.
We stand with Merdan Yanardağ, founder and editor-in-chief of Tele1. We express our respect and affection for him. This is not a retreat; it is a declaration of resistance. We will find a solution, or we will create one.
Sincerely…”
The editor-in-chief of Tele1, Merdan Yanardağ, addressed Tele1 employees from Silivri, where he served his sentence and which is now known as the Marmara Penitentiary and Execution Facility:
“Dear Tele1 employees;
Together, we achieved a great success that will forever be etched in the history of the Turkish press. In an editorial context where capital has shifted and journalists have been relegated to the background, we overcame obstacles one by one to make Tele1, founded, managed, and produced by journalists, known to a wide audience, despite immense difficulties. We demonstrated the possibility of a republican, enlightened, and socially responsible audiovisual system, serving the people. We proved that publishing and journalism can be practiced without depending on any center of power or financial group.
We showed that a media outlet can be independent. Tele1 has since become one of the most influential and widely watched television channels in Turkey. We owe this success to your dedication and expertise, and to the support of the public, our viewers, and our friends.
In this sense, we have achieved a true miracle, one might say.
I thank you all for your efforts and support. Truly. Know that you hold a special place in my heart.
They have seized your hard work, our nine years of savings, through a fifth-order conspiracy. This attempt constitutes a serious attack on freedom of thought, of the press, and of expression. Moreover, it is a plot that violates even the rules and morals of capitalism. Be aware that I will never accept this attempt to plunder Tele1, whose value is in the millions of dollars. This plot will be thwarted, and I will not submit to this tyranny.
Let each of my friends decide what to do next, individually or collectively, in complete freedom. Those who remain, like those who have left, will always hold a special place in my heart. As long as there is no betrayal, there is no problem; that is the only thing we cannot accept.
No one doubts it: we will create institutions like Tele1, or even bigger. Bigger than Tele1, and we will be reunited. I love you all very much, and may your paths be clear.”
On the other hand, Salim Şen, a lawyer who participated in debate programs and co-hosted a show with Burçin Atılgan, shared his feelings and reactions on social media:
“Today, we bid farewell to Tele1, one of the most important channels of independent media, with memories deeply etched in our hearts.
The arrest of Merdan Yanardağ on the basis of an absurd accusation, the appointment of a court-appointed administrator to head Tele1 under the guise of this accusation, and his transfer to the SDIF (Savings Deposit Insurance Fund) are an attack on press freedom, freedom of expression, and the constitutional order.
We do not accept this ever-deepening darkness.
We do not lose when we are defeated, but when we give up.
The darkest moment of the night is when the sun is closest to rising. We have just said goodbye to Tele1. We will continue our fight for rights, justice, and freedom, and we will not be silenced.
When one road closes, we will find another, or we will build one.
Because we are right, we are principled, and we are the voice of the silent majority. We are their voice.
We will continue to oppose and resist injustice, anarchy, illicit profiteering, and all forms of favoritism until a constitutional and democratic state, governed by the rule of law, is established in this country, and until a just, egalitarian, and peaceful social life prevails.
Greetings to all the dedicated employees of Tele1, to our viewers who have supported us unfailingly since day one, to my co-host Burçin Atılgan, and to all my friends!”
Our Anatolia / Bizim Anadolu / November 1, 2025
