15.10.2026 17:59
Halk TV presenter and halktv.com.tr columnist Journalist Bahadır Özgür has been detained. The news of the detention was announced by halktv.com.tr Editor-in-Chief Bengü Şap Babaeker on her social media account. It was alleged that Özgür was detained on suspicion of violating the confidentiality of the investigation known as the "fund investigation." The detention came after the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) was appointed as trustee to the companies to which Halk TV is affiliated yesterday.
Journalist Bahadır Özgür, who hosts a program on Halk TV, has been detained. No official statement has yet been made regarding which investigation the detention was carried out under.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANNOUNCED THE DETENTION
Bengü Şap Babaeker, Editor-in-Chief of halktv.com.tr, used the phrase “Bahadır Özgür is being detained” in a post on her social media account.
“FUND INVESTIGATION” CLAIM
It was alleged that Özgür was detained on suspicion of violating the confidentiality of the investigation known as the “fund investigation.” It has not yet been disclosed where Özgür was detained, which chief public prosecutor’s office is conducting the investigation, or the details of the accusation against him.
WHO IS BAHADIR ÖZGÜR?
Bahadır Özgür is known for his reports in BirGün newspaper and his program on Halk TV. An investigation was also launched against Özgür this year in April upon a complaint by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK).
The investigation in question concerned Özgür’s use of a MASAK report alleged to be confidential in his news article titled “Million-dollar exports from Mersin to ISIS,” published in BirGün in 2022.
In his statement at the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Özgür argued that the report was in a public court file and that there was no confidentiality order in the file.
A TRUSTEE WAS APPOINTED TO HALK TV YESTERDAY
The detention came immediately after a trustee was appointed to Halk TV. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had announced that an investigation had been launched against Halk TV’s fugitive owner and Chairman of the Board Cafer Mahiroğlu on charges of “bribery,” “rigging tenders,” and “money laundering.” Within the scope of the investigation, companies linked to Mahiroğlu were seized, and the TMSF was appointed as trustee.
According to the chief public prosecutor’s office’s statement, it was alleged that Mahiroğlu obtained unlawful profit from tenders through a company he had established by using his connections with the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, and that an unrecorded bribe payment of 14 million 464 thousand liras was made. Of the 17 suspects for whom detention orders were issued in the investigation, 11 were caught in an operation carried out on the morning of October 14. It was stated that Mahiroğlu had been abroad since March 2025.
TOKTAŞ: WE WILL CONTINUE JOURNALISM
After TMSF officials came to the channel building accompanied by police, Halk TV’s broadcast was cut off. Halk TV Editor-in-Chief Suat Toktaş said they could not say goodbye to viewers live on air because the main control room was seized. Toktaş claimed that the investigation was based on secret witness statements and that the aim was to leave the channel in a difficult economic position, and stated that they would continue journalism on every platform. Mahiroğlu had also previously denied the accusations against him.