14.10.2026 17:50
Following the appointment of a trustee to Halk TV and the suspension of its television broadcasts, access to the channel's digital accounts was also blocked. Reacting harshly to the decision, New Party Chairman Özgür Özel said, "A government that cannot tolerate a broadcast on Halk TV is finished. Someone's end has come. We are just beginning."
After the appointment of a trustee to Halk TV and the suspension of the channel’s broadcasts, access restrictions were also imposed on the television’s social media accounts under Article 8/A of Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Publications Made on the Internet and Combating Crimes Committed Through Such Publications.
ACCOUNTS ON 6 PLATFORMS BLOCKED FROM ACCESS
According to the statement by the Freedom of Expression Association, the YouTube channel with 2 million 590 thousand subscribers, the X account with 3 million followers, the Facebook page with 1.5 million followers, the Instagram account with 1.2 million followers, the TikTok account with 256 thousand followers, and the Telegram channel with 5 thousand 247 subscribers were subjected to access restrictions.
REACTION FROM ÖZEL: WHOEVER STOOPS TO THIS, THEIR END HAS COME, THEY ARE FINISHED
Meanwhile, New Party Chairman Özgür Özel, who came to Silivri to follow the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) case, reacted to the appointment of a trustee to Halk TV.
“Were we expecting the appointment of a trustee to Halk TV, the appointment of trustees to and closure of a few televisions that make the opposition’s voice heard? We were. Would they appoint a trustee to Halk TV? They would. When would they? When they reached the very end, they would do that too. It is now clear that this government has reached the end. They are so desperate that at a point when the fund issue is being properly discussed and the people are being informed, they want to completely shut down these spaces. Just yesterday we saw this: government voters are watching opposition televisions at such a high rate for the first time. Why? They are uncomfortable with what is happening. They turn to see what is happening, they watch Halk TV, Sözcü TV, Koza TV.
Second, since March 9, the right to defense has been obstructed here. They did not allow it in July. They did not allow it in August. Today, for the first time, Mr. Ekrem will exercise his right to defense after 589 days. This morning they are shutting down Halk TV. This is an indication of this government’s exhaustion, desperation, and impotence. Let no one fall into despair here, thinking, ‘The government is strong, Tayyip Erdoğan is strong. Look, it shut down Halk TV too.’ Think of the world’s most powerful countries, the strongest democracies, the strongest leaders. Whoever stoops to this, their end has come, they are finished. If a government has reached the point where it cannot tolerate a single broadcast on Halk TV and says, ‘Let me silence it so the fund issue is not discussed. Let me silence it so İmamoğlu’s defense is not heard. Let me silence it so the opposition cannot make its voice heard. Let me silence it so Özgür Özel cannot find a platform to speak,’ then it is finished. Someone’s end has come. We are just beginning, friends. Let no one lose heart.
NOTHING WILL BE EASY, BUT WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER
During the day, we will show our solidarity with Halk TV. Apart from that, from other opposition channels, new channels, and through social media, new organizing, by founding new channels with new collective efforts, we will get out of this vise. I express my best wishes to our friends working at Halk TV. I express my best wishes to Halk TV’s management. I express my best wishes to Halk TV’s owner, Mr. Cafer. All our strength, support, and struggle are with them. Let everyone know this: Nothing will be easy. One day I will come out and say, ‘It’s done.’ Do you know when? On that night when we win by a landslide in the election results, I will say, ‘It’s done, we succeeded.’ Until that day we will be challenged, we will suffer, we will face persecution, perhaps very bad things will happen to us, but we will not surrender.
LET NO ONE LOSE HEART, WE ARE STANDING TALL
Right now Erdoğan, the palace regime, has not gotten ahead of us, has not scored any goals. That is another scoreboard. There they have already scored 50 goals in their own minds. You look at this: in the scoreboard in the people’s hearts, is the people waiting for the election and wanting to change these, is the moral superiority ours, are we not destroyed, are we standing; then we will win. The real scoreboard is the one in the people’s hearts, in the people’s conscience. They had won the day they seized Mayor Ekrem’s election certificate, didn’t they? What happened 40 days later? The people made mincemeat of them. They will be a thousand times worse. Let no one lose heart. We are standing tall. Mr. Ekrem is standing there. Halk TV is standing there. We are standing here. As long as we do not give in to the feeling of ‘We are defeated, we are losing,’ they can never win. They are the cowards.”