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Eight journalists covering anti-government protests held in Turkey Arrests condemned as ‘unlawful’ by press freedom groups, highlighting growing repression amid demonstrations against President Erdoğan Eight journalists covering anti-government protests held in Turkey Arrests condemned as ‘unlawful’ by press freedom groups, highlighting growing repression amid demonstrations against President Erdoğan Ruth Michaelson in Istanbul Tue 25 Mar 2025 17.38 CET Share A prosecutor in Istanbul has remanded eight journalists in custody, reversing a decision to release them after they were arrested for covering Turkey’s largest anti-government protests in years. The journalists were among 10 arrested in dawn raids on their homes earlier this week. An Istanbul court initially ruled the journalists should be released before reversing the decision and issuing an official arrest order, according to their lawyers and representatives. Among the detained are Yasin Akgül of Agence France-Presse and the former AFP photojournalist Bülent Kılıç, who was named Guardian agency photographer of the year in 2014 for his coverage of Ukraine, events on the Turkish border with Syria and the deadly crash of flight MH17. They were held after photographing mass anti-government demonstrations that have swept Turkey for the first time in years, prompted by the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu last week. Protesters in front of Istanbul's famous aquaduct in Istanbul, Turkey. People in Turkey: share your views and experiences of recent protests Read more They were all charged with “taking part in illegal rallies and marches and failing to disperse despite warnings”, court documents showed. The court decision was slammed as “scandalous” by Reporters Without Borders, with the Turkish Photojournalists Union denouncing it as “unlawful, unconscionable and unacceptable”. İmamoğlu is a longstanding rival of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the lone candidate seen as capable of challenging him at the ballot box in an upcoming election. On the same day that İmamoğlu was sent to a high-security facility on the edge of Istanbul, he was also nominated as a presidential candidate by his opposition Republican People’s party. Demonstrations that began outside Istanbul city hall have quickly grown, with tens of thousands gathering each night to vent their frustration at decades of rule by Erdoğan and his Justice and Development party (AKP). The protests have drawn an increasingly fierce response by the Turkish authorities. Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said 1,418 people have been arrested in connection with demonstrations in the past week. “While there are currently 979 suspects in custody, 478 people will be brought to court today,” he said. “No concessions will be made to those who attempt to terrorise the streets, to attack our national and moral values, and our police officers.” Meanwhile, Erol Önderoğlu, of Reporters Without Borders, told AFP: “This is the first time that a clearly identified journalist has, in the exercise of his duties, been formally arrested on the basis of this law against gatherings and demonstrations.” skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Headlines Europe