Turkish police raid opposition TV station, halting live broadcasts
Halk TV says its staff are unable to enter the building in Istanbul and a new manager has been appointed.
Key points
- Turkish police raided Halk TV's Istanbul headquarters on Wednesday, halting its live broadcasts.
- Eleven people were taken into custody in the raid linked to the channel's owner.
- Prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 17 people over bribery, tender rigging and money laundering allegations.
Turkish police raided the Istanbul headquarters of Halk TV, a pro-opposition television channel, on Wednesday morning, halting its live broadcasts. Halk TV said its employees were unable to enter the building and that a new manager had been appointed to run the channel.
Turkish media reported that financial crimes police were searching the building and that 11 people had been taken into custody in the raid linked to the channel's owner. The station's news channel and its live broadcasts on YouTube were both offline early on Wednesday.
Investigation and detentions
Prosecutors said arrest warrants had been issued for 17 people as part of an investigation into Halk TV chairman Cafer Mahiroğlu on allegations of bribery, rigging tenders and money laundering, according to Turkish media. Mahiroğlu, who was reportedly not in the country during the raid, wrote on social media that seven members of his family were among those detained.
Today is a dark day for Turkey. The public's right to information is being seized for political reasons.
— Cafer Mahiroğlu
Reaction and timing
The Istanbul Bar Association denounced the raid, noting it came hours before Ekrem Imamoğlu, widely seen as Erdoğan's biggest political rival, was due to begin his defence against corruption charges in court, for which he has been in prison for over a year. Özgür Özel, leader of the opposition New Party, called the raid "weak and cowardly" and said storming a TV channel at dawn and appointing a trustee is something only dictators do.
Turkey ranked 163rd out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2026 World Press Freedom Index. The organisation stated that 90% of national media outlets were under government control and criticised the abusive prosecution of critical publications in the country, which Erdoğan has led since 2003.
