Who is Arif Kocabıyık? Why was journalist Arif Kocabıyık detained?

The General Directorate of Security announced that Arif Kocabıyık, known for his street interviews, has been detained.

'A. K., the manager of the account with the username ilavetv.07 on the Instagram social media platform, was detained by our Antalya Provincial Police Department due to insulting remarks made towards our President during an interview, and legal proceedings have been initiated against the individual. Respectfully announced to the public.'

WHO IS ARIF KOCABIYIK?

Arif Kocabıyık was born in 1983 in the Elmalı district of Antalya. After graduating from a vocational high school, he worked as a wedding photographer for a period. Later, he began working as a security guard at Akdeniz University. He stepped into the media world with a local newspaper he founded called "Divan." However, this venture did not achieve the expected success.

In March 2018, Kocabıyık began a new media journey by founding the channel "İlave TV" on YouTube with his brother-in-law, Turan Kural. The channel gained attention in a short time, reaching 11 thousand subscribers in May 2018. With the increasing interest, the team began conducting interviews across Turkey, and by early 2019, they had increased their subscriber count to 90 thousand. As of July 2023, the number of subscribers to İlave TV reached 743 thousand. Arif Kocabıyık also authored a book titled "Courage is Contagious," in which he recounts this broadcasting journey.

He stepped into his political career on March 18, 2023, by announcing his candidacy for Antalya Deputy from the İYİ Party. He was included in the lists announced on April 9, 2023, as the 12th-place parliamentary candidate for Antalya, but he was not elected.