Turkish journalist quits after reporting provokes police raids

A Turkish journalist has announced he is abandoning the profession after police raided his home multiple times following reports he compiled on alleged local government corruption, BirGün newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Hasan Tolga Balcılar made the decision following three police raids on his home in the southern Osmaniye province over the span of one week, after he reported on claims of corruption by the municipality run by the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the newspaper said.

Balcılar had reported on alleged corruption on municipal tenders and says he was offered money in exchange for his silence on the matter.

“Because Osmaniye is such a small place, they cannot get any member of press to pen such reports,” Birgün cited Balcılar as saying. “They either threaten you or offer you a bribe. I’ve been offered money and advertising in exchange for stopping to report on the matter.”

The journalist said that police raids had taken a toll on his family.

“There is no legal decision against me at this time, but I was handcuffed and (the police) pointed a gun at my wife. I am leaving this profession as I cannot put my family through this anymore,” the local journalist of seven years said.

The MHP, junior coalition partner to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling party, won the province’s mayoral seat in the March 2019 local elections.

The Turkish government has intensified a crackdown on civil society and journalists following the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016. Members of the Turkish press media regularly face persecution for reporting on topics sensitive for the government or voicing opinions deemed unfavourable by state authorities.

The country ranks 153rd out of 180 countries according to the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2021 World Press Freedom Index.