Accusation of insulting the president
Arrest warrant issued against Deutsche Welle reporter in Türkiye
Updated February 20, 2026 – 2:44 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
Alican Uludag is considered a well-connected journalist. Now the Deutsche Welle employee was arrested in Turkey in front of his children and then arrested. The outrage is great.
Journalist Alican Uludag, who has worked for Deutsche Welle (DW) in Turkey for several years, has been arrested. An Istanbul court has issued an arrest warrant for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported.
According to DW, the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office had previously opened an investigation not only for insulting the president, but also for “publicly disseminating misleading information” and “insulting the Turkish nation, the state and the institutions.”
According to DW, Uludag was arrested and taken away by around 30 police officers in Ankara on Thursday in front of his family. Turkey’s largest journalists’ association, human rights activists and the federal government called for Uludag’s immediate release.
DW said Uludag’s apartment was searched and IT equipment was taken. The allegations relate to a post on platform He accused the government of corruption.
According to the Cumhuriyet newspaper, Uludag said he had not committed any crime. They wanted to prevent him from asking unpleasant questions at press conferences and to keep him silent. Erdogan recently appointed the controversial public prosecutor Akin Gürlek, who conducted numerous investigations against opposition figures, as justice minister.
“I call on the Turkish government to ensure that Alican Uludag is released from prison immediately,” said Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer (independent) of the German Press Agency and emphasized: “Journalistic work is not a criminal offense.”
The Turkish government’s allegations against the DW journalist are unfounded. “He must be released. Deutsche Welle and its employees must be able to work freely in Turkey and report independently.”
The process is deeply worrying and is being followed with great attention, said deputy government spokesman Sebastian Hille in Berlin. The state of press freedom in Turkey has been the subject of international concern for years.
The leader of the opposition CHP party, Özgür Özel, described the arrest as “harassment”. DW director Massing called the allegations against Uludag baseless. He is very well connected and has access to important sources. This could make him dangerous to the government – from their perspective.
It was initially unclear when the authorities would take further steps in the case. Once the investigation is complete, a court date is usually set.
As a long-time court reporter, Uludag reports on human rights violations, corruption cases and trials, according to DW. In 2021, Uludag was awarded the Raif Badawi Prize for courageous journalism in Germany.
