TRT correspondent Elif Akkuş taken into custody

Elif Akkuş, a 25-year war correspondent of the public broadcaster TRT  was taken into custody in Ankara yesterday (October 16).

Previously, Akkuş had been suspended from her position at TRT for a period of three months for an unspecified reason.

Lawyer Hüseyin Ersöz, in a statement made from his X (Twitter) account last night, said, "TRT News Correspondent Elif Akkuş was just taken into custody in Ankara. A search was conducted at her house in Istanbul in the evening hours, but since she was in Ankara, the arrest warrant against her couldn't be executed. She was called to the Security Directorate by phone and voluntarily surrendered. It should be noted that there can be no "legal" justification for issuing an arrest warrant for a journalist who would willingly come to give a statement."

Ersöz also added that Akkuş's X account was attempted to be hacked yesterday.

Lawyer Ersöz emphasized that Akkuş is a journalist who has worked in some of the most dangerous conflict zones, stating: "She is a witness to the conflicts in Libya and Syria, as well as the raid on the Mavi Marmara Ship by Israel in 2010. As no achievement goes unrewarded in Turkey, she is a person who would willingly go to give a statement and is currently in custody, despite the risk of a blood clot in her brain after a surgery." (AS/PE)