Alican has three important questions for the 'Minister of Justice'

There is no need to explain Alican Uludağ at length. He is the best judicial reporter in Ankara, and indeed in Turkey.

Alican had been a target, especially since the Sinan Ateş murder. With the change of ministers, some 'trolls' on social media began listing names as if placing an order, demanding they be “packaged” (detained). Alican was among those names.

Last Tuesday, two days before he was taken into custody, we met at the Courthouse. We had a trial to follow, and we took the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart.

I asked him if he had seen the posts targeting him and told him to be careful.

With his usual naivety, he said, “Whatever happens, happens. There is nothing to be done.”

Naturally, we also talked about the new ministers. I am saving Alican's words regarding what he primarily wants to do as a journalist for the very end.

As our conversation continued, since neither of us had an office, I joked, “Let’s rent a shared office...” He immediately opened his computer to look for a place and found one in Ulus.

“What business do we have in Ulus? Let it at least be close to the Courthouse,” I said. He reminded me that the new courthouse is being built on the site of the former MIT campus in Yenimahalle, and said he thought of Ulus because it would be a central location between the current Courthouse and the new one.

Upon this, I remarked that by the time the new Courthouse is finished, he would most likely have left the judiciary and started in other fields. He gave this exact reply:

“I will cover the judiciary until the end of my profession. I am not thinking of changing fields.”

That is how much Alican values the judiciary and takes his job seriously.

What is 'Tweet Testimony' Anyway?

Two days later, the news came that Alican had been abruptly taken into custody and taken to Istanbul.

The grounds for detention were: “Publicly insulting the President, publicly spreading misleading information to the public, and degrading the institutions of the state.”

But the Criminal Court of Peace decided to arrest him only for “insulting the President.”

This means that Alican “did not provide misleading information to the public and did not degrade the institutions of the state.” This is a seal of approval for his journalism.

As for the allegation of insulting the President; Erdoğan's name is not even mentioned in the post about the mafia that served as the reason for his detention. Because it is not mentioned, they went back 1 year and put 22 of his posts into the file. However, there is no insulting expression in these either.

Let's look at the grounds for arrest; it was stated that “the crime was committed publicly because the posts reached an undetermined number of people... there are findings regarding the suspicion of flight... and it creates a strong suspicion of destroying or concealing evidence, and attempting to exert pressure on witnesses and other persons.”

The absurdity is this;

First; including the one that served as the reason for detention, no access ban or anything was brought to the posts considered “crimes,” they all remain. In other words, they continue to “reach an undetermined number of people.”

Second; you would think Alican was caught at the border. No, they went to his house with a detention warrant and took him from his home in front of his children's eyes. Since the so-called “evidence” consists of 22 posts; which one is he going to destroy or conceal, and how?

Third; I could not understand “pressure on a witness” at all. Are there always people with us when we make posts? Even if there are; will the witness be asked, “Did Alican write this?” or will Alican say to those witnesses, “Don't say I wrote it”?

Speaking of “testimony”; it is being discussed that the reason for Alican's detention is not so much his post about the mafia, but his post stating that Furkan Torlak, whom the new Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek plans to make his press advisor, was vetoed by Erdoğan, and comments are being made that Alican was targeted for this reason.

Well; wasn't Furkan Torlak right next to Minister Akın Gürlek at the handover ceremony at the Ministry of Justice?.. Let the journalists invited to the ceremony that day be asked as “witnesses”; when they were taken to the Press Consultancy room, wasn't Furkan Torlak sitting there?.. Didn't other journalists also voice similar claims about why Torlak was not appointed, without citing Alican as a source or based on their own information?

If you ask me; Alican's real, unspoken “crime” was the last news report he made one day before he was taken into custody. What was in that report where he announced the results of the election held at the Court of Cassation for membership in the Constitutional Court?

He had conveyed inside information such as: “Erdoğan will directly appoint the 11th member to the 15-member Constitutional Court... The person who received the most votes is within the structure known in the judiciary as the ‘Istanbul Group’... Minister of Justice Gürlek and Constitutional Court member İrfan Fidan also wanted him to be elected... And İrfan Fidan will first run for Deputy Presidency of the Constitutional Court, and then for the Presidency.”

“They Arrested Me to Set a Precedent for the New Era”

In his statement at the Criminal Court of Peace, Alican emphasized the following:

“The main issue here is not these posts of mine; there is no investigation or complaint from the President regarding posts made months ago. They couldn't get me arrested until today. They said, ‘We couldn't do it because you were doing your job within the limits of journalism, so we are forced to take action regarding these posts.’ This file was fabricated by saying, ‘A cleanup is wanted regarding Akın Gürlek in Ankara, and we must remove Alican from Ankara because he would express his comments and criticisms against many similar operations.’”

Last Sunday, while he was still in Metris Prison, a lawyer friend of ours went to visit Alican. He sent me this note:

“Today is my third day in Metris Prison after a 12-hour rapid detention process. For three days, I have been away from my freedom, my reporting, and my loved ones. I have thoughts, but it is forbidden to express them. Because in this country, speaking, writing, and criticizing are crimes. They arrested me to set a precedent for everyone in this new era. They arrested me to say, ‘Think, but keep it to yourself... If you try to express it, look, your end will be prison like this.’ Democracy, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press in the Constitution have effectively not existed for a long time. In the regime they have established, they want us to do journalism as if it were real.”

Now, let's come to the conversation about the new ministers that I saved for the end of our last meeting.

Alican said that if he is invited to the press conference, he will ask three important questions to the Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek there, and if not, he will ask them wherever he encounters him.

Naturally, I didn't ask what they were and just replied, “Let's see, we will wait with curiosity.”

He must have remembered this conversation of ours, as Alican also noted the following in the message he sent from Metris:

“Now I am inside. But when I get out, sooner or later, I will definitely ask those questions.”

We are looking forward to you getting out and reuniting with your children, and continuing to ask your questions as a journalist, my dear brother!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

February 25, 2026