Turkey: EFJ demands immediate release of journalist Alican Uludağ

Feb 20, 2026

Deutsche Welle correspondent Alican Uludağ, who was detained Thursday evening in Turkey, was brought before a detention judge on Friday.

The prosecutor in charge requested that he be placed in pre-trial detention, and the court subsequently issued an arrest warrant. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Turkish affiliates, TGS, TGC, DISK Basin-Is and GCD, in demanding the immediate release of the journalist.

Alican Uludağ is a well-known investigative journalist with 18 years of experience and no prior convictions. He has worked for Germany’s international broadcaster DW in Turkey for several years. On Thursday evening, he was detained by about thirty police officers in front of his family. He was immediately transferred from Ankara to Istanbul to appear before the detention judge. His apartment was searched and IT equipment was confiscated.

The court said it had identified in his posts on X what it described as a “strong suspicion” of possible “insulting the president.” As grounds for pre-trial detention, it cited the risk of “continued commission of the offense” and “obstruction of the evidentiary process.” The allegations relate to an X-post he made about a year and a half ago. In it, he criticized measures taken by the Turkish government that led to the release of possible ISIS terrorists.

Alican Uludağ described the proceedings as politically motivated and as a “purge against critical voices.” He maintains that his posts on X are protected under freedom of expression.

DW Director General Barbara Massing insisted: “The proceedings are clearly politically motivated. We are shocked and will continue to campaign for our colleague’s release.”

“We are terribly affected by his arrest, but we are not discouraged,” said Banu Tuna, Turkish member of the EFJ Steering Committee. “Alican Uludağ is a journalist who is a credt to his profession. The last thing he said to his lawyers when he was arrested was: “Tell everyone I will not be silenced”. We will not be silenced either”.

There are currently 27 journalists in prison in Turkey.
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