Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into prominent journalist Çiğdem Toker due to her comments on television about the results of a runoff election in which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan secured yet another term in office.
Toker, an economy reporter with the T24 news website, announced on X on Thursday that she had been summoned by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office due to her comments about the results of the presidential runoff election held on May 28 during a program on Fox TV.
A runoff had to be held in the presidential election in May because neither Erdoğan nor his rival, opposition’s candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, was able to surpass the 50 percent threshold. Erdoğan won the runoff, receiving 52.18 percent of the nationwide vote, while Kılıçdaroğlu garnered 47.82 percent.
Toker questioned the validity of the election result in favor of Erdoğan during an election night program on Fox TV and said “democracy is not just about elections,” while hinting that opposition supporters could stage protests to challenge the result.
“Actually, the current administration does not meet the standards of [a country adhering to] the rule of law. … Democracy is not just about elections. We should support the expression of citizens in other areas of politics as well. … We should not criminalize democratic protests or the freedom to seek justice,” Toker said during the broadcast.
She said the investigation into her was launched by the prosecutor’s office based on a complaint from a person who was disturbed by her comments on election night.
She is accused of criminal incitement.
Toker said she just testified to police as part of the investigation and said her comments on TV on election night do not contain the elements of a crime and that her remarks concerned the exercise of a democratic right and were not intended to provoke people to commit a crime.
Fox TV was among four TV stations slapped by Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) with fines in June for violating broadcasting guidelines during their coverage of the country’s May elections. The station was fined due to Toker’s comments on May 28.
Toker, who has worked for various outlets in the Turkish media including the secular Cumhuriyet daily, reports extensively on irregularities in government tenders awarded to pro-government companies as well as financial misconduct by government officials and agencies. She has faced several court cases due to her journalistic activities.
Rights groups routinely accuse the Turkish government of trying to keep the press under control by imprisoning journalists, closing down media outlets, overseeing the purchase of media brands by pro-government conglomerates and using regulatory authorities to exert financial pressure, especially after President Erdoğan survived a coup attempt in July 2016.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 90 percent of the national media in Turkey, which was ranked 165th among 180 countries in the RSF’s 2023 World Press Freedom Index, is owned by pro-government businessmen and toe the official line.