The raid and the broadcast cutoff
Police entered the Istanbul headquarters of Halk TV early on Wednesday, 14 October 2026. The channel announced on X that officers were inside the building, that an administrator had been appointed and that live broadcasts had been interrupted. Fanpage reported that the live feed went dark at 6.30 a.m. Istanbul time, replaced by folk dances and old films, and that staff were kept outside behind police barriers. El Mundo reported that dozens of people gathered in front of the building to protest. Prosecutors said management of the broadcaster had been handed to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (Tmsf), a state body. Journalist Gamze Altunay wrote on X that the equipment had been seized and that the building where the journalist has worked for five years was out of reach.
- Court orders the independent news site T24 closed, accused of LGBT propaganda
- Two journalists arrested and two placed under house arrest over reports on an investment fund scandal
- Rights groups urge X to resist court orders blocking hundreds of accounts
- Police enter Halk TV headquarters and an administrator is appointed
- Live broadcast goes off air, replaced by folk dances and old films
Detentions and the corruption probe
The Istanbul prosecutors issued 17 detention warrants and said 11 people were held, without releasing their names. The investigation covers alleged bid rigging, bribery and money laundering, and it centers on the channel's chairman, Cafer Mahiroglu. AP reported that Mahiroglu lives abroad and has previously denied the accusations against him. In a video posted on X, Mahiroglu said that seven members of his family were among those detained. Fanpage, citing the prosecutor's office, reported that companies in which he holds a stake or serves as a manager had been seized on court orders.
Reactions from staff and the opposition
Halk TV's managing director, Suat Toktaş, asked the appointed administrator to keep the live feed running, appealing to viewers' right to be informed. Fanpage, citing a programmer at the channel, reported that the request was refused. In a video shared by the channel, Toktaş was seen insisting that the raid was illegal. Mahiroglu described the day in strong terms in his video.
Today is a dark day for Turkey. Citizens' right to be informed is being taken away for political reasons.
Opposition leader Özgür Özel denounced the raid on X in equally sharp terms.
Raiding a television station at dawn and appointing an administrator is something only dictators would do.
El Mundo reported that the staff issued a joint statement describing the channel, which has existed for nearly 20 years, as confiscated, and framing the episode as Turkey's new normal.
A wider squeeze on the press
AP noted that press freedom has declined steadily over the more than two decades Erdoğan has held power, and that most media outlets are under government control. Turkey ranks 163rd of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' press freedom index. About two weeks before the raid, a court in Istanbul ordered the closure of the independent news site T24, which was accused of "LGBT propaganda", according to Le Monde. In the week of 5 October 2026, two journalists were arrested and two others were placed under house arrest over reports on an investment fund scandal that implicated a senior figure in Erdoğan's ruling party, AP reported. El Mundo counted Halk TV as the fifth prominent outlet placed under a trustee this year, after Flash TV, Ekotürk, Habertürk and Tele1. The Ankara-based Contemporary Journalists Association condemned the move.
The appointment of a trustee to Halk TV and the suspension of its broadcast constitute a grave intervention against press freedom and freedom of expression.
On Monday, 12 October 2026, rights organisations in Turkey and abroad asked X to resist court orders blocking hundreds of accounts belonging to journalists and activists, and asked the government to stop issuing such orders. Authorities justify the restrictions on public safety grounds.
Political backdrop and what remains open
Fanpage reported that the raid came as the defence phase opened in the mass trial of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Istanbul mayor who has been detained since March 2025 and suspended from office. The same outlet noted that many polls identify him as the only challenger able to beat Erdoğan in the 2028 presidential election. El Mundo reported that İmamoğlu made a statement in court the same day, and Amnesty International's deputy regional director for Europe, Esther Major, pointed out that the raid took place on that day. Mahiroglu remains outside Turkey, and at the time of reporting the channel's output was still under the administrator appointed by the authorities.