Journalist İrem Delice arrested in Turkey on suspicion of ‘spreading disinformation’

Istanbul, September 2, 2026—Turkish authorities should immediately release journalist İrem Delice, who was arrested on August 29 on suspicion of “spreading disinformation,” and repeal the disinformation law, which is being used all too often to criminalise journalism and silence reporting in Turkey, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

Delice and three other staff members from Aydın Denge, a news outlet in the western Aydın Province, were taken into police custody on August 26 after the publication of a report on the death of a local woman named Gülşen Erdoğan under the headline “Erdoğan passed away.” 

The four – publisher Emin Aydın, responsible news editor Yeşim Ülker and reporters İslam Keleş and Delice – were placed under investigation for publicly spreading disinformation on the basis that the deceased had the same surname as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 

In a column published in Aydın Denge, publisher Aydın said the death report was a routine story and the outlet did not intend to confuse or trick the readers. 

A court in Aydın released the four pending investigation under judicial control on the same day but Delice, who wrote the story about the local woman’s death, was later imprisoned on August 29 after the prosecution appealed the releases.  

“Once again authorities have used Turkey’s disinformation law to deprive a journalist of her freedom. İrem Delice should be released immediately, and authorities must stop their abuse of this vague legislation to criminalize journalism,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Representatives of Aydın Denge say they reported the death of a local as they always do and with no intention of clickbait. Even if mistakes were made, nobody deserves to go to prison in this case.”

In his column published on August 29, Aydın said there was no intention to insult the president.

“In the post in question, we absolutely had no intention of targeting the President of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, sending him a message, insulting him, or creating any implication that could constitute a crime,” he wrote.

“Certainly a headline may be misunderstood. A visual (for the headline) may be prepared in a more careful way. We learn lessons from experiences, review our publishing process and take precautions to prevent similar misunderstandings as every outlet does. However, we believe that a nonexistent criminal intent cannot be fabricated from a technical or editorial choice,” he wrote.

Frequent use of law

In April, CPJ joined 22 press freedom and human rights organizations in condemning Turkey’s frequent use of its disinformation law – Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code – to prosecute and imprison journalists. The signatories urged the Turkish authorities to release all journalists imprisoned under this law and ultimately repeal it.

The 2022 law introduced prison sentences of up to three years for spreading false information about security, public order, and the general health of the country that causes concern, fear, or panic. Since it came into force, at least 83 journalists have been charged 114 times over disinformation, according to news reports.

At the time of publishing, CPJ was unable to confirm whether the investigation would result in a trial for Delice and the other three Aydın Denge staff.

CPJ emailed the Aydın Chief Public Prosecutor’s office for comment but did not receive a reply.