Journalist Gözde Şeker gave her first defense statement in the trial in which she and journalist İbrahim Kahveci are charged with “slander” and “insult” following a complaint by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli.
The indictment prepared after Bahçeli’s complaint was returned four times by three separate courts on different grounds.
ISTANBUL — An instruction hearing in the trial of journalists Gözde Şeker and İbrahim Kahveci, who were prosecuted over comments criticizing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli’s stance on the killing of Sinan Ateş during the Halk TV program “Kırmızı Çizgi” in June 2024, was held at Istanbul Anadolu 38th Criminal Court of First Instance.
Şeker attended the hearing with her lawyer, Kazım Yiğit Akalın, and gave her first defense statement in the case. Kahveci, who is being tried in the same case, is due to give his defense statement on Oct. 14.
Indictment returned four times
The indictment against Şeker and Kahveci, prepared following a complaint by Bahçeli, was returned four times on different grounds.
It was first reviewed by Ankara’s 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. The court returned the indictment after finding that the case did not concern a press offense and should instead be handled under general criminal law provisions.
The case file was then sent to Ankara’s 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance, which noted that the indictment did not include a report from Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK). The court also found that the statements attributed to Şeker and Kahveci had not been separated from one another.
It said the indictment did not clearly specify which statements allegedly constituted “slander” and which amounted to “insult,” and returned it.
The indictment was revised and sent to another court for a third time. That court, however, sent it back on the grounds that the case should be referred to the court that had previously issued the decision to return the indictment.
The file was then sent again to Ankara’s 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance. This time, a RTÜK report had been added to the case file. The court nevertheless found that the indictment still failed to distinguish which statements allegedly constituted “slander” and which fell under “insult,” and returned it once again on March 4.
About a year later, the prosecutor resubmitted the file to Ankara’s 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance without making changes to the indictment.
On the fourth submission, the court accepted the indictment and set a hearing date.
Şeker: My remarks were made in the course of journalism
In her defense statement at the instruction hearing, Şeker said she was 39 and had worked as a journalist since the age of 16.
“I am 39 years old. I have been working as a journalist since I was 16 and have been appearing on television for 10 years. I have edited my own programs. Over those 10 years, I have spent countless hours on air, and no case has ever been brought against me. That shows how careful I have been. I have never insulted anyone, I have observed the principles of journalism, and no case has been filed against me.
“I have criticized many politicians and opposition figures on my programs. In fact, some viewers have accused me of being a Devlet Bahçeli supporter because I criticized the opposition. That also shows how impartial I am. I did not insult Mr. Devlet Bahçeli either. The remarks that are the subject of the charges were made in the course of my journalistic work.”
Şeker’s lawyer, Kazım Yiğit Akalın, said his client had acted as the moderator of the program at issue and had asked questions, while the commentary was made by the program’s guests.
Akalın said the indictment had been returned four times and still failed to clearly identify which remarks formed the basis of the charges. He asked the court to acquit Şeker.
Kahveci is scheduled to give his defense statement at an instruction hearing before Istanbul Anadolu 38th Criminal Court of First Instance on Oct. 14. The defense statements of both journalists will then be sent to Ankara’s 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance, where the main trial is being heard.
The next hearing before Ankara’s 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance is scheduled for Oct. 20.
About the case
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli filed a criminal complaint through his lawyer on June 12, 2024. The complaint alleged that Şeker, who at the time hosted the Halk TV program “Kırmızı Çizgi,” and Kahveci made remarks about Bahçeli and the MHP that amounted to “slander,” “insult” and statements “inciting the public to hatred and rebellion.”
The complaint said the program included footage of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meeting Özgür Özel, who was then leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and Ayşe Ateş, the wife of slain former Grey Wolves leader Sinan Ateş, as well as footage from a speech Bahçeli delivered at a parliamentary group meeting.
An indictment issued by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Oct. 14, 2024, cited remarks made by Şeker and Kahveci during the program. Kahveci said Ayşe Ateş wanted those who carried out her husband’s killing, as well as those who helped them, to be identified, and that Bahçeli made statements after that possibility came onto the agenda.
Kahveci went on to make the “Grey Wolf” hand gesture and said that Selçuk Özdağ, then a deputy chair of the Future Party, and journalists had narrowly escaped death in attacks by people he described as “appearing to be nationalists.” He said that if the killing of Sinan Ateş was not solved and those responsible were protected, “the message being sent was that they could go and shoot whomever they wanted.”
According to the indictment, Şeker said of Bahçeli’s remarks: “Even if I read this statement without naming him, I would say Devlet Bahçeli said it. It is, again, a statement in that harsh language of his, in poisonous language.”
Şeker argued that Bahçeli’s statements concerning Kurdish politics were aimed at dividing the country and said that this approach had pushed some people outside the political process.
In a defense statement given to prosecutors on Aug. 14, 2024, Şeker said she had worked as a journalist for 20 years and had never departed from the principles of journalism during her career. She said the comment cited in the case had also been made within the bounds of those principles, argued that her remarks did not amount to an insult and rejected the accusations.
Kahveci, in his defense statement to prosecutors dated Sept. 17, 2024, said he had expressed his views and opinions within the scope of freedom of thought and expression guaranteed by the Constitution and as part of his journalistic work. He said his remarks concerned a politically motivated murder case and were not directed at any specific individual, adding that he had made no allegation that would harm or demean anyone’s honor, dignity or reputation.
The journalists’ comments that became the subject of the case followed a speech Bahçeli delivered at an MHP parliamentary group meeting on June 11, 2024.
In that speech, Bahçeli said President Erdoğan was free to meet with anyone.
“Mr. President can naturally meet with anyone, speak with anyone and listen to anyone. In our view, there is nothing objectionable or improper about that. What we do find objectionable is baseless rumors running rampant, absurd allegations spiraling out of control and discord being fueled,” Bahçeli said.
Bahçeli continued his comments on the killing of Sinan Ateş in a press statement the following day.
“The spread of an assassination of the reputation of the Nationalist-Idealist Movement through a murder case for which an indictment has been prepared, the constant promotion of certain figures accompanying this assassination, and moreover, their being taken from door to door and paraded across television screens, amounts to an outright attempt to poison the climate of domestic peace and social harmony rather than a pursuit of rights and justice,” Bahçeli said.
Prosecutors, noting that Bahçeli held public office, alleged that the journalists’ remarks were of a nature that harmed his honor, dignity and reputation. The indictment accused Şeker and Kahveci of “publicly insulting and slandering” Bahçeli by attributing to him “a specific unlawful act.”
Ankara’s 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance accepted the prosecutor’s indictment on March 5, 2026. The court sent an instruction to Istanbul Anadolu 38th Criminal Court of First Instance to take the journalists’ defense statements.
