Turkish journalist Ayşenur Arslan has been released after giving her statement. Arslan’s comments on Sunday’s bombing in Ankara led to her programme on Halk TV being taken off air and an investigation being launched against her. She was taken into custody on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) launched an investigation into Halk TV and Arslan over her comments on the attack, and Halk TV concessionaire Cafer Mahiroğlu announced that her daily programme would be cancelled.
Following this, Istanbul Chief State Prosecution initiated an investigation into Arslan on charges of “propaganda for a terrorist organisation” and “praising the crime and the criminal” on Monday.
An arrest warrant was issued for Arslan, who was subsequently arrested from her home in Sarıyer by Istanbul Counter-Terrorism Branch. She was escorted by police to a court, where she gave her statement.
During her programme on Halk TV, Arslan expressed her doubts about the official line on the details of the Ankara bombing, leading to her comments gaining traction on social media and making her a target.
Arslan pointed to what she saw as the apparent futility of the act and wondered whether the attacker had detonated the bomb deliberately. She also questioned the motive behind the use of the car in the attack, saying that it would be easier for the attackers to steal a car in Ankara than to kill someone in another province in order to take one, which would only draw attention to their violent intentions.
Following the attack, the authorities said the stolen car used in the attack had belonged to a veterinarian who lived in a village in Kayseri. According to the Turkish media, the attackers stopped the veterinarian on the road and killed him in order to steal his car, before dumping his body in a ravine. His body was found on Sunday.
