Turkish Prosecutors Indict YouTube Journalists over “Insulting” President Erdoğan

January 28, 2026 – Turkey –

Turkish authorities have indicted two YouTube journalists and an interviewee on criminal charges alleging they insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and denigrated religious values during on-camera street interviews, reflecting an intensifying use of criminal law to curb critical media content. The case was brought by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office roughly two months after the journalists’ arrests in December 2025.

The two media figures, Hasan Köksoy and Arif Kocabıyık, run independent YouTube channels—Kendine Muhabir (“Correspondent to Himself”) and İlave TV—that specialise in street interviews capturing public opinion. A third person, Halil Kürklü, who participated in one of the interviews, was also indicted. Prosecutors allege the trio repeatedly engaged in “publicly insulting the president” and “publicly denigrating the religious values of a segment of society,” offences that under Turkish law carry potential prison terms.

The charges relate to remarks made in a street interview in which criticism was levelled both at Erdoğan and at the Pope’s visit to Turkey, with Kürklü’s comments about the papal visit specifically cited in the indictment as disrespectful to religious values. Turkish press freedom advocates warn that this approach risks conflating independent reporting and commentary with criminal conduct, particularly as the use of street interviews has become more prevalent amid concerns over tighter government influence in mainstream media.

Authorities’ focus on street interview content coincides with broader public remarks by President Erdoğan in May 2025, when he criticised such interviews for allegedly causing “public unrest” and accused some online journalists of misusing equipment to insult or provoke interview subjects. Following those comments, law enforcement detained several street interviewers on similar charges, signalling heightened scrutiny of independent digital media content.

The indictments add to a wider pattern of legal pressure on journalists and content creators in Türkiye, where laws criminalising insulting the president, defamation, and other broadly defined offences have been used to investigate, detain, or deter critical reporting. Human rights groups and media organisations have repeatedly expressed concern that these prosecutions stifle free expression and enforce self-censorship among journalists and independent media figures.

The case against Köksoy, Kocabıyık, and Kürklü is expected to draw continued attention from press freedom defenders and may form part of ongoing debates about digital journalism, legal reform, and media independence in Türkiye.

Reference –

2 YouTube journalists indicted on charges of insulting Erdoğan in street interviews