Turkish journalist Mehmet Akif Ersoy, editor-in-chief of Habertürk TV and a prominent figure in pro-government media, was arrested this week on allegations involving drug procurement and an alleged network built around private parties.
In Yetkin Report, columnist Murat Yetkin said the striking element is how quickly pro-government outlets have treated the claims as established fact.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office detained Ersoy on the evening of Dec. 9. Detention paperwork cited accusations that women invited to a residence were supplied narcotics and that sexual encounters involving multiple people followed, with prosecutors alleging the meetings were used to obtain “sectoral and material benefits” for Ersoy and his circle. A court remanded him in custody on Dec. 10 on drug-supply charges.
He was arrested alongside Mustafa Manaz, Uğur Tetik and Ebru Gülan, among several suspects taken into custody. The remand decision centered on alleged narcotics procurement rather than the sensational allegations described in the file.
Ersoy denies the allegations. In statements reported from his interrogation, he called them “lies” and argued he was targeted by a “political operation,” saying Turkey’s legal system had reached a troubling point. On Dec. 13 he issued a written statement again rejecting the accusations as defamation based on secret-witness testimony rather than evidence.
The arrest has stirred questions across the political spectrum because Ersoy has been one of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s favored media faces in recent years. Fluent in Arabic, he worked for state broadcaster TRT as a correspondent in Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Palestine, later moving into management. He also served as an adviser on the Middle East and the Islamic world during Mehmet Görmez’s term as head of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs.
Ersoy joined Habertürk in 2017 and was appointed editor-in-chief in August 2024 by Kenan Tekdağ, then head of the Ciner Media Group. He kept his job after Ciner’s sale to Can Media in December 2024 and after the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) seized the group in September 2025, amid claims that influential allies helped protect his position.
Habertürk and Ersoy became a key platform during the “Terror-Free Turkey” process. Senior AKP figures, including parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, deputy chair Efkan Ala and party spokesperson Ömer Çelik, delivered major messages on Ersoy’s programs. From the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, Sırrı Süreyya Önder and later Mithat Sancar also chose Habertürk for early mainstream interviews.
The case has also been tied, in social media commentary, to three TV presenters briefly detained on drug allegations on Dec. 5 and to separate online claims of sexual misconduct involving Ersoy. Pro-government daily Sabah has carried detailed reporting on the prosecutor’s narrative, while Ersoy’s denials have drawn less attention.
Yetkin framed two broader questions: whether other politicians, bureaucrats, businesspeople or media executives are involved, and whether Ersoy is being used in an internal power struggle within pro-government circles. Prosecutors have not publicly addressed those claims, and the investigation continues.
Photo: Yetkin Report