Turkey: IPI welcomes decision to reject top presidential official’s complaint against Cumhuriyet reporters

Communications Director’s complaint on ‘violation of personal data’ on daily Cumhuriyet rejected by KVKK

Jul 19, 2021

Journalists stand in front of the headquarters of Cumhuriyet newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct 31, 2016. MURAD SEZER/REUTERS

The Personal Data Protection Authority (abbrev. in Turkish: KVKK) published its reasoning on July 7 on a complaint brought by the Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun against independent newspaper Cumhuriyet following articles which reported on an illegal construction on a property he rented.

IPI welcomed the decision and said it represented a milestone for the protection of press freedom in the country, as the high numbers of institutional bans, sanctions and trials suffocate newspapers and demotivate reporters from continuing crucial work.

In 2020, Altun filed a complaint to the KVKK against Cumhuriyet journalists and editors Hazal Ocak, Vedat Arık, Olcay Büyüktaş and İpek Özbey over the “violation of the law on the protection of the personal data”, demanding a defence should be requested from the daily.