Metin Cihan's resistance on social media

Journalist Metin Cihan carried out important work affecting Turkey's political situation. For instance, Cihan, who describes himself as a ‘social media journalist’, thoroughly investigated the suspicious death of 11-year-old Rabia Naz Vatan in the Turkish city of Giresun, and used X to bring it to the attention of the Turkish people. According to him, her death was linked to Nurettin Canikli, former defence minister and MP for the ruling Justice and Development Party in Giresun. He has been living in exile in Germany since 2019.

His fearlessness led to investigations, lawsuits and many warnings from those around him. “People around me said, ‘You know this country, don't you? They will come after you and throw you in jail.” Because it involved the death of a girl, I suspected myself that the government would not let this go unchallenged,” he says. Charges ranged from ‘insulting the president’ to ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’. When he learned through leaked conversations from the Canikli family that the likelihood of arrest was growing, he fled abroad. But even there he continued his research and publications, and with his ‘Canikli file’, as he called his research that he brought out in exile, he managed to uncover corruption.

‘Is this true?’

When, at a time when Israel stepped up its attacks on Palestine and civilian casualties increased, the Turkish government declared its condemnation of Israel and ceased trade relations, Cihan asked journalism's most fundamental question. Namely, ‘Is this true?’

He soon found out that even after 7 October, trade with Israel continued as usual. ‘Turkey supplies Israel's strategic needs. Steel, cement, weapon parts and even barbed wire. Much of this trade is conducted by companies run by conservative politicians who call for a boycott of Israel.”

In response, Cihan was targeted by AKP politicians on social media and TV programmes. “They said I was telling lies and was a terrorist,” he said. Ultimately, his investigation played an important role in the AKP's major defeat in the 2024 local elections. Shortly after these elections, access to the journalist's X account was blocked, a measure that Cihan says has “no legal basis whatsoever”. “The government requested this, X implemented it. That's how simple censorship works,” said Cihan, indicating that the blockade severely restricts him from continuing his work.

Press freedom index

Turkey ranks 159th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom index, describing the situation as ‘very serious’. According to data from the Turkish Journalists' Union (TGS), 18 journalists are currently imprisoned in the country. On 13 October 2025, Hakan Tosun was killed in an attack, believed to be related to his work as a journalist.

This article previously appeared in 360 Magazine.