Murder of Turkish journalist drives calls for official investigation into political motives behind killing

Author: Devin Windelspecht, MSc

October 24, 2025

HRRC joins global and Turkish press freedom organizations’ calls for an official investigation into possible political motivations behind the murder of journalist Hakan Tosun. We express extreme concern for the safety of independent journalists working in Turkey amid increasing physical, digital and legal threats. 

Hakan Tosun. [Source: Bianet.org]

The murder of an environmental journalist and activist in Istanbul, Turkey has driven calls for investigations into the motives behind his murder, as press freedom organizations express fears that his killing was politically motivated amid escalating attacks on journalists in the country. 

Hakan Tosun, 50, was assaulted by two men in the Istanbul neighborhood of Esenyurt in the early morning of October 10. He was later found unconscious and taken to a hospital, where he died on October 13 from a brain hemorrhage resulting from head wounds suffered in the attack. Turkish police said they have arrested two suspects, ages 18 and 24, for the assault. 

Although criminal motivations have not been ruled out, Tosun’s work investigating environmental destruction and corruption has driven demands for an official investigation by global press freedom groups—including the European Federation of Journalists and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ)—into whether the murder was motivated by his reporting. 

In a joint statement, EFJ-IFJ joined Turkish journalism and press freedom organizations Turkiye Gazeteciler Sendikasi, Türkiye Gazeteciler Cemiyeti, and DİSK Basın-İş in calling for Turkish authorities to “investigate whether the assault is connected to his work as a documentary filmmaker.” 

Opposition members of Turkey’s parliament, including the main opposition Republican People’s Party, have also called for investigations into the murder. On Thursday, October 17, hundreds of demonstrators, including relatives of the victims of past politically motivated violence, marched to Tosun’s grave demanding answers for Tosun’s death. 

In recent years, Turkey has suffered a significant deterioration of press freedoms alongside ongoing democratic backsliding and attacks on political opposition candidates. Journalists have been arrested for covering anti-government protests, subjected to death threats and intimidation, and assaulted for their journalism. 

Turkey currently ranks 159th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Border’s World Press Freedom Index, which described a “culture of impunity in the country” for attacks on journalists.

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Glossary

• Brain hemorrhage – bleeding of the brain, often caused by an external wound. 

• Deteriorate – worsen. 

• Democratic backsliding – a loss of freedoms, rights, and opportunities for opposition parties to fully engage in free and fair elections experienced by a country. 

• Environmental destruction – methods of extracting resources or pollution that causes extreme damage to a natural environment. 

• Escalating - increasing. 

• Impunity – a pattern of actions for which perpetrators are left unpunished for. 

• Politically motivated – carried out by forces with a particular political agenda that would benefit from the killing. 

• Opposition – members of a political party in a country who are currently not in power in the government. 

• Press Freedom – the ability for independent journalists to report without fear of censorship, harassment, or violence.