Turkish authorities’ recent detentions all have a theme

Targeting the actors

If that were not enough, Ayşe Barım, the head of a well-known talent agency that manages some of the country's most famous actors, was arrested on 24 January for "aiding attempts to overthrow the government or prevent it from performing its duties".

It is based on accusations that she was one of the organisers of the mass demonstrations in 2013, known as the Gezi Park protests, when around 3.5 million Turks took to the streets, shaking Erdoğan's AKP government to its core.

According to reports in the Turkish press, the indictment of the Prosecutor's Office alleged that Barım was a ringleader, encouraging the actors and actresses she managed to take part in the protests.

Police interviewed several of the big names in her talent management portfolio and have since opened cases against two Turkish actors—Halit Ergenç and Rıza Kocaoğlu—for misleading investigators by giving answers in favour of Ayşe Barım.

Both are well-known, especially Ergenç, who plays Sultan Suleiman I, aka Suleiman the Magnificent, in Muhteşem Yüzyıl—among the most famous Turkish soap operas, captivating millions of viewers across the Middle East and beyond.

Osman Kavala, a Turkish human rights defender and businessman, has been in prison since 2017, charged with organising the Gezi Park protests.

Latest in a long line

Arbitrary arrests and suspensions are not a new phenomenon in Türkiye. Over the last 10 years, a staggering 147 mayors—the vast majority of whom are from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party (Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party)—have been dismissed and sometimes arrested, with trustees appointed in their place.

Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chair of the HDP (the predecessor of the DEM Party), has been in prison since 2020 on charges of "membership of an armed terrorist organisation" and "committing crimes on behalf of the organisation".

Among the most memorable detentions were the arrests of 103 generals and admirals in 2016, charged with plotting a coup. Most were retired. They spent years in prison, and in 2024, they were released with a presidential pardon, owing to their advanced age.

The list is exceptionally long, yet it is not just public figures who have been targeted by the judiciary. Ordinary Turks have also been imprisoned because of their opinions, whether shared in person or on social media.

The country's General Directorate of Security recently announced on its X account that it had detained a man for making inappropriate remarks about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family in a street interview.

In yet another instance, Turkish journalist Şirin Payzın said on 28 January that she was being investigated for "terrorist propaganda", adding that the prosecutor had threatened her with arrest.

Retired Ambassador Rıza Türmen, who served as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights for a decade from 1998 and is considered one of the country's leading jurists, said these arrests have no legal basis and are politically motivated. AKP denied that, saying the judiciary is independent.

Strangely immune

Interestingly, so far, no one from the ruling AKP (or its coalition partner MHP) has been arrested despite widespread allegations of corruption. Critics who say free speech is important in a democracy accuse the government of using the judiciary for political purposes to dissuade Turks from challenging or criticising those in power.

Analysts say the arrest of Özdağ is aimed at nationalist groups that might oppose the so-called reconciliation initiative, while the arrest of CHP mayors stems from the CHP's victory in the 2023 local elections, which irked the AKP.

Currently, Turks have more than enough reasons to grumble, with the high cost of living and dire economic conditions, to name but two. These detentions may be the pre-emptive strikes of a government concerned about another spate of popular unrest, as was last seen in 2013.

Opposition parties think the government's main target is Ekrem İmamoğlu, the popular mayor of Istanbul, who beat the AKP to win a second term in 2023. With high approval ratings, he is likely to be the strongest presidential candidate that Erdoğan has had to face (assuming both men challenge at the next election).

Erdoğan may feel that he cannot defeat Imamoğlu at the ballot box, so he will use the judiciary to remove the threat instead. There are already numerous lawsuits filed against the municipality of Istanbul and against İmamoğlu personally.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office recently initiated a new lawsuit demanding İmamoğlu's arrest for criticising a Court Expert who handled cases related to him and CHP municipalities.

Court Experts is a mechanism whereby individual experts or institutions examine a file as requested by the court and present their findings. It stems from his comments at a press conference on 26 December, when Imamoğlu said there were 8,806 registered experts in Istanbul's courts, yet the same one kept being appointed in cases against him and the CHP municipality—and that this one expert never failed to criticise him.

Three journalists from Halk TV, a major opposition establishment, are also being investigated for reporting on the issue. İmamoğlu said Türkiye was entering a new "don't touch or you burn" period but that neither he nor the CHP would be cowed into silence.