Turkish journalist faces disinformation investigation over land sale confirmed by municipality

Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into Cumhuriyet daily reporter Gülnur Saydam on accusations of disinformation and defamation over her report on the sale of land used by residents as a road, despite written confirmation of the sale from the ruling party-run Esenler municipality.

Saydam was summoned to give a statement to prosecutors over her September 10 article, which reported that local residents have used the land as a passageway for 65 years before it was sold for a housing project, Cumhuriyet reported on Thursday.

The investigation was launched under Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code, which criminalizes publicly disseminating misleading information, and Article 125, which covers insult and defamation.

According to Cumhuriyet, before publishing the article Saydam contacted the municipality and received an official written response and included the municipality’s statements in her report.

Saydam criticized the investigation in a post on X, accusing the municipality of abusing its authority to target the press. She denied publishing false or misleading information and said she would give a statement accompanied by her lawyer, Enes Ermaner.

Esenler Belediyesi bana “SORUŞTURMA”açmış! Üstelik kendilerinin onayladığı “resmi satış” belgeli haberime! Kamunun emanet ettiği gücü basının ve halkın üzerinde böyle keyfi kullananlara ceza yok mu sayın Adalet Bakanlığı? Bugüne kadar tek bir yalan – yanıltıcı haber… https://t.co/qb0Lwtqi1c

The investigation comes three months after Saydam was briefly detained in İstanbul on July 1 over a report on alleged organized crime in the city’s affluent Göktürk neighborhood. Police took her into custody at her home shortly after the article was published and released her after about four hours of questioning.

Introduced in 2022, Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code, commonly known as the disinformation law, requires prison sentences of one to three years for those found guilty of publicly spreading false information in a way that causes concern, fear or panic among the public.

The law has prompted widespread criticism from press freedom and rights groups, which say its vague wording gives authorities broad powers to investigate and prosecute journalists and social media users over reporting and online commentary.

According to Expression Interrupted, a press freedom monitoring group, 25 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey. The country’s deteriorating media landscape was further pointed out in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where it was ranked 163rd out of 180 nations.