An Istanbul court on Feb. 20 arrested a Turkish journalist working for the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) on accusations of "spreading false news" and "insulting the president."
Alican Uludağ was detained in the capital Ankara on Feb. 19, the office said, on charges stemming from posts on a social media account. He was brought to Istanbul for the next procedures.
Uludağ's lawyer said the journalist was being targeted for articles written for DW about the repatriation claims of Turkish citizens affiliated with the ISIL terrorist organizations.
"Alican Uludağ was taken into custody ... because of his article entitled 'Turkey Prepares to Repatriate Turkish Citizens Affiliated with the Islamic State,’" said attorney Tora Pekin.
Deutsche Welle said late on Feb. 19 that the "charges refer to a message published on X about a year and a half ago" in which Uludağ criticized measures taken by the Turkish government that allegedly led to the release of possible ISIL terrorist in a case on Atatürk Airport attack in 2016.
In 2024, Türkiye’s Court of Appeals overturned life sentences handed down to seven defendants in the case concerning the 2016 İstanbul Atatürk Airport suicide bombing, which left 45 people killed and 236 others wounded.
Uludağ’s home was searched and computer equipment was seized.
He was due to appear before prosecutors in Istanbul on Feb. 20, the prosecutor's office said.
