On 28 May, 2025 PEN International issued a statement for the release and end of judicial harrasment for young Turkish journalist Furkan Karabay:
"The authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist and author Furkan Karabay and stop judicial harassment. Karabay’s previous baseless conviction should be overturned and journalists allowed to do their work free from persecution."
Karabay still remains behind bars and you can write to him to show your support. Read on for PEN International's statement including a message from him and his address.
"On 15 May 2025, police arbitrarily detained Furkan Karabay at his home in Istanbul. Karabay was brought before a court and officially arrested on suspicion of ‘making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism’ under Article 6/1 of Anti-Terror Law No. 3713, carrying up to three years in prison, and ‘insulting’ Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan under Article 299 of the Penal Code, which carries up to four years in prison.
Karabay declined to file a defence in court, denouncing the judiciary’s apparent determination to ‘chase down and imprison 20-year-old students who were exercising their constitutional rights’ to assembly and peaceful protest.'
The charges against Karabay stem from his social media posts about the detention of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in March and the alarming crackdown that ensued. Karabay’s X account was blocked in Türkiye after his arrest. He is currently being held in Marmara prison, Silivri, alongside young protesters from the Saraçhane district of Istanbul. His lawyers challenged the pre-trial detention order, yet the court rejected the petition.
Furkan Karabay has been repeatedly targeted by the authorities of Türkiye on account of his journalistic work in recent years. In April 2025, a court in Istanbul found him guilty of defamation and ‘insulting the president’ in relation to his reporting on claims of corruption against the president’s family and handed him a deferred prison sentence totaling nearly two years. In October 2024, Furkan was acquitted for his reporting on allegations of corruption in the judiciary.
PEN International has long called out to the authorities of Türkiye to end the arbitrary arrest and detention of journalists and writers simply on the content of their writing. To repeal criminal defamation and insult laws, and safeguard the vital role of journalism in fostering dialogue and debate on matters of public interest.
With university students at the forefront of the protests, PEN International and its newly established Young Writers Committee stand in solidarity with those risking everything to peacefully uphold fundamental freedoms.
Message from Karabay
Furkan Karabay, born 15 May 1996, has worked with several media outlets in Türkiye, including Cumhuriyet, 10Haber, Oda TV, and Gerçek Gündem. He notably specialises in judicial affairs. In 2024, Karabay published Gurban, a book detailing his investigation into businessman Mubariz Mansimov’s activities with the government in Türkiye as well as his rise and fall.
On 20 May, Karabay sent the following message to PEN from Marmara prison:
Even if they shut down our accounts, silence our voices, or cut out our tongues, we are journalists and we will continue to write the truth and practice journalism. We have been in prison before; we will get out again. We will not give up living with honour and dignity.
The only thing that those who scan our news stories and try to produce offences will see in our past reporting will be the truth and nothing but the truth.
Those who do not want reports to be made, voices to be raised or protests to be organised about the unlawfulness of operations against the Istanbul Mayor's Office are trying to prevent the real issues and problems from being discussed.
For the sake of your honour and dignity, never give up the struggle. We will continue our journalism, research and investigations together with our colleagues all over the world without giving up. We journalists are fighters for the truth. Imprisonment will not deter us from this path. We will continue our struggle for the public and for human rights everywhere.
With respect and love to PEN,
Furkan Karabay
Marmara L Type Closed Penal Institution No.5 B-2
Write Back To Furkan
*You can write a letter or postcard of support to Furkan Karabay using the same address above, adding "Ceza İnfaz Kurumları Kampüsü, Semizkumlar, 34570 Silivri/İstanbul, Türkiye."
For further details contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International: [email protected]
For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, Communications and Campaigns Manager at PEN International, [email protected]
For more information about PEN International’s work on Türkiye please see Identity on Trial: Persecution and Resistance – PEN’s Case List 2025.
