Sevinç Özarslan

Sevinç Özarslan (born May 26, 1976, in Hopa, Artvin,Turkey) is a Turkish journalist. She graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism (1995–1999).^[1] She is known for her reporting focusing on human rights violations, unlawful acts, and various victimizations. Since 2016 Turkish coup attempt, amid increased repression of independent media in Turkey, she has lived in exile.^[1] Özarslan continues her journalism work in Germany, with her reports cited by German media outlets such as Frankfurter Rundschau.^[2][3] She has written for independent outlets such as TR724,^[4] Samanyolu Haber^[5] and contributed to the International Journalists Association (IJA).^[6] She also shares her work and commentary through platforms including X (formerly Twitter)^[7] and Patreon.^[8] She is a member of the German Journalists Association.

Sevinç Özarslan began her journalism career at the Sabah Group. She then worked at Yeni Binyıl newspaper. Following the 2001 Turkish economic crisis, Yeni Binyıl was closed, and she worked for a period in art galleries and publishing houses. Notably, she contributed to exhibitions for prominent Turkish painters at Bebek Art Gallery, such as Nuri İyem, İrfan Okan, Temur Köran, Nedret Sekban, and Neşe Erdok. In 2005, she joined the Zaman (newspaper) and worked as a reporter in its culture and arts department for nearly ten years. After Zaman was shutdown by the Turkish government post 2016 Turkish coup attempt, Özarslan continued writing for independent media, focusing on human rights violations, unlawful acts, and victimizations. She is widely recognized as "the person who reveals victimizations in Turkey to the world." Özarslan is known for exposing human rights and legal violations in Turkey through her reports and social media.^[1] Particularly noteworthy reports include:

• Camera footage of the death of a Turkish Decree(KHK)-affiliated teacher Gökhan Açıkkollu, who died in Istanbul Police Department's C4 Detention Center after torture.^[9][10]
• Photographs of KHK-affiliated assistant commissioner Mustafa Kabakçıoğlu, found dead in solitary confinement on a white plastic chair due to lack of medical care at Gümüşhane E-Type Prison.^{[11][12][13][14]}
• The death of former Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) member Teoman Gökçe, who died after a delayed medical intervention following a heart attack during 16 months in solitary confinement at Sincan T-Type Prison.^[15]
• The strip search scandal involving female students at Uşak Police Department, which brought her prominence.^[16][17][18]

Özarslan's reporting on the Uşak Police incident was brought to the Turkish Grand National Assembly by MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu. Following this, the Uşak Police Chief Mesut Gezer and numerous police officers filed complaints against Gergerlioğlu. Subsequently, Gergerlioğlu was detained in March 2021 based on an article he posted on T24.^[19] Similarly, a detention warrant was issued for Sevinç Özarslan and investigations opened against her for her interviews with female students.

Following the July 15 coup attempt, Sevinç Özarslan, who had no pending cases in the investigations against the Gülen movement, was accused by several public prosecutor offices, primarily in Uşak, Kayseri, and Kırıkkale, of membership in a terrorist organization due to her reporting on human rights violations. On December 24, 2021, her assets were frozen by an official decree published in the Turkish government’s Official Gazette.^[20] Özarslan shared this decision, signed by then-Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu and Minister of Treasury and Finance Nureddin Nebati, on her social media account and stated that she did not have any assets in Turkey. On May 28, 2024, the Kayseri Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation against Özarslan on charges of "unlawfully obtaining or disseminating personal data." The reason for this investigation was a news report published on the Kronos news website titled "Dismissed F-16 pilot Yahya Tarih died in a tractor accident."^[21]

Özarslan stated:

"They want to imprison, kill, or abandon to death everyone they label as FETÖ member. Unfortunately, the entire justice system in Turkey is built on this hatred. An F-16 pilot died in his village while farming, having suffered all injustices imaginable... The so-called prosecutors who sit in the seats of justice choose to silence me for reporting on the death of this pilot. Bring it on, dear prosecutor. Do your job. Because I will continue to do mine."^[22]

Since leaving Turkey in October 2016, Özarslan has been living in Germany. According to reports from international press freedom organizations such as CJP,^[23] she is under surveillance by Turkish authorities and subjected to social media harassment.^[24] Leaked Foreign Ministry of Turkey documents published by Nordic Monitor revealed that Özarslan's name appeared among many exiled critical journalists. The documents indicated efforts to monitor these journalists abroad and prepare legal cases against them.