I Am Afraid
On April 9, 2025, political scientist and columnist Dr. Nuray Mert announced her resignation from journalism with a farewell article titled “I Am Saying Goodbye” on Medyascope. In her final piece, Mert wrote:
“Years ago, I wrote an article titled ‘I Am Ashamed’ (Radikal, June 26, 2001), in response to the decision to shut down the Virtue Party. I said, ‘I am ashamed to walk freely in a country where the main opposition party is closed down, and where women wearing headscarves are treated like criminals.’ Those who continued the legacy of that banned party came to power and have now governed the country for 23 years.
In 2010, I wrote another article, this time titled ‘I Am Afraid.’ Today, I am again afraid — more than ever before. I am afraid for myself and for my country…
I’m afraid of being imprisoned and leaving my cats without care. I’m afraid of being separated from the little girl I call my granddaughter, my niece’s daughter. I fear that the traces of a life-threatening illness, my health condition, and my age have left me with little strength or endurance.
I am afraid for my country, because we are heading into a dark tunnel with no clear way out. I am afraid for that little girl’s future. There is no shame in this — fear is a human condition.
And so, regardless of the outcome of the latest legal case brought against me, I have decided to end my political commentary and analysis — something I have always considered a civic duty.”
Before the ink on this poignant farewell had even dried, on the morning of April 10 at 5:00 a.m., journalists Murat Ağırel and Timur Soykan were taken into custody. By the end of the day, they were released under judicial control. Just a few weeks earlier, on March 19, 2025, journalist İsmail Saymaz was placed under house arrest for his reporting on the 2013 Gezi Park protests. That same day, during protests against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, journalists covering the events were beaten and detained by police.
Foreign journalists have also faced growing pressure in recent days. On March 29, 2025, Swedish journalist Kaj Joakim Medin of Dagens ETC was arrested shortly after arriving in Istanbul and was later detained on charges of “insulting the president” and “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” as stated by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Around the same time, BBC reporter Mark Lowen was deported from Turkey. The official notice served to Lowen on the morning of March 27 stated that he posed “a threat to public order.”
The repression of journalists in Turkey is nothing new. Following the so-called coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the country’s top-selling newspapers and most-watched TV channels were shut down, and their assets were confiscated. Hundreds of journalists were imprisoned, many of them affiliated with the Gülen movement or Kurdish media. Many have remained behind bars for years.
Some of Turkey’s most prominent journalists and intellectuals — including Ali Bulaç, Mümtaz’er Türköne, Şahin Alpay, and Ahmet Turan Alkan — were jailed for years solely for their writings. Though many have been released, their legal ordeals are far from over. The ongoing court proceedings continue to hang over them like the Sword of Damocles.
Other well-known intellectuals, such as Ali Ünal, journalist Hidayet Karaca, and investigative reporter Mehmet Baransu, remain imprisoned. The dates of their release remain uncertain. While some of them have received final verdicts, other cases are still ongoing.
As Nuray Mert so powerfully expressed, Turkey has become a country where journalists either leave the profession out of fear or continue it at great personal risk — including imprisonment.
