Turkish Authorities arrest journalist Fatih Altaylı for criticising President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Posted by Ollyfer@reddit | anime_titties | View on Reddit | 12 comments

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MTTrick@reddit

Today's actually the 5th day of his imprisonment.

He was always criticising the party in office and Erdogan. He made a comment saying that Turks used to have their sultans strangled if they didn't like who ruled the country.

This was perceived as a call to assassinate the president.

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Publius82@reddit

I got banned from r/law for stating we used to hang traitors in America.

Turkish prison is probably pretty bad, though

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Altaylı is actually sending daily letters from the prison to his YouTube co-host, and the letters are being broadcasted on his YouTube channel daily, breaking watch stats records among independent Turkish journalists.

He's saying that since that's a political prison, it's not as bad. He stays at a one person cell where TV is allowed. Except the fact that the place is really dirty, he says that he's doing fine there.

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Ollyfer@reddit (OP)

Yep, sorry for that, I only heard about it on the radio the day before, since I don't speak Turkish and barely follow news coverage there, also because of my unfamiliarity of trustworthy websites from that country, i.e. those that are still not closed down and had their offices not raided yet.

Interesting, thanks for the second paragraph! On the radio, they said that he remarked that the Turkish people usually murdered their sultans when they ruled too long. Seems like a mishap on their behalf. (Meaning the German journos who dug that story up)

Well, Erdogan seemed to understand it so, which indeed could be understood as something of a mask-off moment, except that his previous declaration to return to the "Präsidialsystem" (don't know how to translate that) alluded to this already.

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MTTrick@reddit

I would like to make a correction on the radio bit.

The Ottomans did not have their sultans strangled just because one reigned for so long. It is not a matter of authority for a fair amount of time. It is a matter of two things:

1) Which son's gonna rule next: the ottomans did not have one or two heirs, or a planned way of royal lineage. They had something like over 30 heirs from many different wives and concubines, and the family who played the game of thrones best had their heir take the throne.

2) Cülus or enthronement gratuity: There was a custom in the Ottoman courts for giving away good amounts of gold coins as gratuity to the Janissaries (basically a paid elite infantry army) once a new sultan would sit on the throne.

So if the Janissaries wanted more money, the sultan would be strangled. If the game of thrones did not go well, the sultan would be strangled.

It is a matter of power and money.

BTW, being a sultan sounds to me like one of the worst jobs ever.

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Ollyfer@reddit (OP)

Thanks for the information, I didn't know that, but the way you describe it, it sounds eerily similar to what must have happened in many European royal courts (as Turkey is geographically located in the Orient, I would understand it as in the European neighbourhood) And I couldn't have ruled as a sultan if I had to fear to fall prey to the power plays of my own family every day... It's like a risky gamble: On the one hand, you live a life of riches and pleasure, but on the other hand, you have to fear that you will be murdered just because someone didn't like their chances of succeeding you as they stand.

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Sari_sendika_siken@reddit

always

Nope, his old stuff is nothing but being a lap dog to the goverment

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Cheesen_One@reddit

Confirmation Erdogans sees himself as the Sultan?

Journalist arrested, accused of threatening Turkish president

Istanbul, June 24, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to immediately release journalist Fatih Altaylı following his June 22 arrest and imprisonment on accusations of threatening Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in connection with his commentary on a public poll.

“Fatih Altaylı’s arrest is a blatant attempt to intimidate an influential commentator into self-censorship,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Authorities should immediately release Altaylı, stop targeting critical voices, and allow journalists to do their job without fear of reprisal.”

On June 20, Altaylı — who regularly shares content to his 1.5 million YouTube subscribers and 2.8 million X followers —commented on a public poll in which 70% of Turkish voters indicated that they preferred to vote for another leader after Erdoğan, who won’t be eligible to run in the country’s 2028 elections due to a two-term limit. In his commentary, Altaylı said the Turkish people “love the ballot box” and wouldn’t want to abandon the right to determine their own future. He added, “This nation is a nation that strangled their sultan when they didn’t like things; didn’t want him. A nation that booed their sultan.”

In his testimony to the authorities, Altaylı said he didn’t threaten the president but merely voiced well known historical facts, and his comments meant to underline how the Turkish people value democracy.

On Monday, a video of an empty chair was uploaded to Altaylı’s channel in protest of his arrest, which has been viewed more than 788,000 times.

CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Altaylı’s arrest from the chief prosecutor’s office in Istanbul did not receive a reply.

CPJ joined 10 press freedom organizations in a June 25 joint statement condemning Altaylı’s arrest.

Editor’s note: This text was updated in the final paragraph on June 25 to add detail about the joint statement.