Court puts renowned journalist under house arrest for allegedly criticizing Turkish army’s actions in Syria

A Turkish court has put renowned journalist Özlem Gürses under house arrest following her alleged criticism of Turkish military actions in Syria during her YouTube program, which she deemed a “slip of the tongue.”

Monday December 23 2024 12:45 am

Duvar English

A Turkish court on Dec. 21 put journalist Özlem Gürses under house arrest over her remarks about the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) during a live broadcast on her YouTube channel.

Gürses was detained a day before, as the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office released a statement quoting journalist Özlem Gürses from her program, where she reportedly said, "As you can see, the ISIS, that is the TSK-Syrian National Army structure, has made small gains in regions where Kurds are present."

The prosecutors claimed Gürses compared the TSK to a terrorist organization, portrayed them as collaborating with groups responsible for torture and massacres, and labeled them as an occupying force.

She was detained on charges of "insulting the institutions and organs of the state" and "publicly disseminating misleading information."

In her testimony, Gürses said he had no intention to compare ISIS with the Turkish army, and that her remarks were a “slip of the tongue.”

The court also imposed an international travel ban into Gürses under judicial control measures.

“It was already obvious that it was a slip of the tongue. Gürses also expressed this. The incident should never have escalated like this. Accidents can happen during live broadcasts. It was very clear that there was no intent in this crime. She could have been reached by phone. But unfortunately, our prosecutor's office chose to detain her in Ankara, where she had come for an award ceremony,” her lawyer Furkan Kamalak told ANKA News Agency.

“There are also statements made by her glorifying the Turkish Armed Forces, such as 'such and such regions have come under the administration of the Turkish Armed Forces'. In other words, the possibility of reaching a conclusion by cropping part of the statement is already very weak, and even if you do, you will not get the desired efficiency from this result,” he added.