Two journalists arrested over fund allegations

ISTANBUL

Two Turkish journalists were arrested and two others placed under house arrest as part of an investigation into reports alleging that public officials had made illicit gains from funds undergoing liquidation.

Following charges of publishing misleading public information, Istanbul prosecutors launched a criminal inquiry. While Mustafa Balcı and Şaban Sevinç were formally arrested, İsmail Saymaz and Murat Ağırel were placed under house arrest after a court granted an appeal against their initial judicial control release.

Balcı and Sevinç were detained over alleged misleading statements concerning ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Ömer Çelik, according to an official statement.

The investigation stems from an Oct. 7 criminal complaint filed by Trade Minister Ömer Bolat against Saymaz and Ağırel over their reporting on alleged profits tied to a controversial fund.

Saymaz and Ağırel gave statements to prosecutors on Oct. 9. A court initially ordered them to report regularly to authorities and barred them from traveling abroad. The measures were later replaced by house arrest after prosecutors appealed. Both journalists have denied the accusations.

Saymaz said he had not made the allegation himself, as Ağırel said that reporting an allegation as such did not mean presenting it as established fact.

The controversy centers on claims about transactions conducted through accounts at Türkiye’s Central Securities Depository (MKK), which serves as the central custody and data repository for the country’s capital markets.

New Party lawmaker Ümit Özlale questioned whether substantial transactions were conducted through MKK accounts belonging to Bolat and the father of Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş. Both ministers have firmly denied the allegations.

Dismissing the claims as “lies and slander,” Göktaş stated in a post on X that no member of her family had executed even a single transaction involving the funds. She added that she would pursue legal action.