Turkish authorities have removed a gag order imposed on Tuesday on news reports about a fire that broke out at a ski resort in northwestern Turkey amid backlash from journalists and press organizations, which condemned the order as an act of censorship.
A huge fire ripped through a 12-story luxury hotel in the popular Kartalkaya ski resort before dawn on Tuesday, killing 76 people and injuring 51 others.
The tragedy sent shockwaves across the country, with videos circulating on social media of people desperately screaming for help or jumping from windows.
The gag order imposed on Tuesday by a court in Bolu, the northwestern province where the Grand Kartal Hotel was located, has been lifted, Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) Chairman Ebubekir Şahin announced on X on Wednesday.
The removal of the gag order came in the wake of harsh criticism from journalists and media organizations, which found it difficult to report on the incident when the public was searching for answers for the cause of such an enormous tragedy, whether the hotel was equipped with the required fire safety equipment and whether negligence was involved.
An unusual exchange took place on Sözcü TV on Tuesday evening, when journalist Fatih Portakal asked a number of questions to reporter Barış Yılınkılıç, who was on the scene, such as whether fire alarms or smoke detectors had gone off when the fire broke out and whether people had tried to save themselves by using bedsheets to climb out of windows.
To every question from Portakal, the reporter said he couldn’t respond because of the gag order or because there was no official statement, since journalists were only allowed to report on the official announcements about the tragedy.
Some people on social media said the reporter cleverly protested the gag order and that the exchange could be taught at journalism schools to future reporters.
İletişim fakültesi öğrencilerine okulda ilk ders olarak okutulmalı. Başarılı iletişim nedir? Nasıl yapılır ? https://t.co/6hgCJz60Gt
— Armagan Çağlayan (@Armagan_caglaya) January 21, 2025
The Turkish government has frequently issued gag orders in response to such tragedies or terrorist attacks over the past few years. Many believe these orders are intended to manipulate public perception and to prevent criticism of the government’s negligence or failures in managing these crises.
When media outlets or journalists fail to comply with the gag order, they face heavy sanctions.
In a controversial move in 2017, the government granted RTÜK the right to cancel the licenses of media outlets if they were found to be disobeying gag orders.
RTÜK was authorized to stop the operations of media outlets for one day if they were found reporting on incidents on which gag orders had been issued.
If the media outlets continue to violate a gag order for the second time in a year, then RTÜK halts their broadcasting for five days and for 15 days if the violation takes place again.
RTÜK can revoke the license of the media outlet if it violates the gag order for a fourth time in the same year.