Controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2025
Detentions following broadcast of a recorded conversation
Halk TV chief editor Serhan Asker, presenter Seda Selek, and journalist Barış Pehlivan were detained after the channel aired a telephone conversation involving a court-appointed expert accused of bias in cases concerning CHP-affiliated mayors.
2025
Arrest warrant for owner Cafer Mahiroğlu
In June 2025, Turkish prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for London-based owner Cafer Mahiroğlu.
2021
Halk TV sues RTÜK over fine
Lawsuit filed
Halk TV filed a lawsuit against RTÜK after the media authority fined the broadcaster over remarks by a guest on a political discussion program.
Source excerpt
Halk TV, a pro-opposition broadcaster, filed a lawsuit against the RTÜK after it fined it on April 7, 2020, because of the remarks of a guest on a political discussion program.
2020
RTÜK fines Halk TV over remarks about Azerbaijan
Fine or penalty
Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) fined Halk TV over remarks by journalist Levent Gültekin about Azerbaijan and its president. The source says the channel was fined on the upper limit but does not specify the amount.
Source excerpt
The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has fined the pro-opposition Halk TV channel on the upper limit over the remarks of a journalist about Azerbaijan and President of Azerbaijan İlham Aliyev amid ongoing conflicts between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the South Caucasus.
The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has imposed an administrative fine on Halk TV on the grounds that an on-air guest addressed MHP Chair Bahçeli by saying “lan”, a slang expression in Turkish that roughly means “man, dude.”
Examining these remarks, RTÜK has considered the expression of "lan", a slang expression in Turkish that roughly means "man, dude," humiliating and degrading for an institution or the persons who represent it.
2013
RTÜK sanction over Gezi Park coverage
RTÜK fined Halk TV after its live reporting of the Gezi Park protests, citing potential harm to the physical, moral, and mental development of children and young people.
2013
Reprimand for broadcasting a video about Erdoğan
In May 2013, RTÜK reprimanded Halk TV for broadcasting a widely viewed YouTube video that the regulator considered intended to humiliate then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.