Fatih Altaylı arrested, freedom of expression debate flares up! Reactions follow one after another

Journalist Fatih Altaylı, who was detained yesterday evening, has been arrested on allegations that his comments during a live broadcast on his social media account contained "threats against the President."

Following the arrest decision, Fatih Altaylı's wife, Hande Altaylı, shared a post on her social media account stating, "Sometimes being among those who go to prison is a thousand times better than being among those who send people to prison. Thank God!"

Following Altaylı's arrest, reactions poured in from many figures.

AHMET ŞIK

Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) Istanbul MP Ahmet Şık, who reacted to the decision in front of the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan, stated the following:

"This is not law, this is an operation to put people in their place. Through Fatih Altaylı, those in his public sphere are being put in their place. Those who do not come together against fascism will come together in the prisons of fascism. We must step out of our comfort zones."

MANSUR YAVAŞ

Ankara Metropolitan Municipality (ABB) Mayor Mansur Yavaş also shared his thoughts in a post on his social media account:

"Arrest on the grounds of an alleged speech crime can only be applied if there is a suspicion of flight, a possibility of destroying evidence, or a danger of committing a new crime. However, there is neither a criminal element nor a situation that requires arrest here.

Arrest is an exceptional measure, not a punishment. Article 26 of our Constitution and ECHR case law clearly protect freedom of expression.

The law must operate according to universal norms, not according to thoughts, individuals, or the government.

This mistake must be corrected immediately, and Fatih Altaylı must be released."

ÖZGÜR ÇELİK

CHP İstanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik also shared a photo from in front of the Çağlayan Courthouse and added the following note:

"We know that by arresting journalist Fatih Altaylı, they want to intimidate us all.

A government that has no promise left for the people other than fear has reached the end of its life. When this pitch-black darkness is left behind, every day spent in dungeons will be a medal of honor for honest people.

Long live a free press. Long live a free Republic of Turkey."

CHP SPOKESPERSON DENİZ YÜCEL

"It is impossible to explain within the framework of the law that Fatih Altaylı's video on his YouTube channel was edited to make it appear as if he had committed a crime.

What is being done is this: Identify a target, find a pretext, fabricate a crime, arrest...

Those responsible for this process, which would make even the coup eras—when everyone who was in opposition was tried to be silenced—look mild, are a disgrace to democracy.

Arresting journalists, legal experts, politicians, and individuals who represent and defend opposition thought simply because they disturb the government, and applying sanctions to these people that have no place in the legal order, means the destruction of the rule of law.

One of the fundamental principles of criminal law is the 'prohibition of analogy.' An act that is not defined as a crime in the law cannot be considered a crime, cannot be made a crime, and cannot be subject to sanctions by comparing it to an act defined as a crime in the law through analogy.

The conscious and deliberate destruction of the rule of law in this way may cause the perpetrators of these actions to face allegations of 'attempting to abolish the constitutional order' themselves one day.

These types of arbitrary practices, which have no place in law, must be ended immediately."