Journalists staged censorship protests in 10 Turkish cities, calling for the release of imprisoned colleagues and an end to pressure on news reporting. The demonstrations, reported on October 24, marked the first anniversary of a government-appointed trustee taking control of broadcaster TELE 1. In Istanbul, protesters marched from the Bull statue in Kadıköy to İskele Square by the waterfront, carrying photos of jailed journalists İsmail Arı and Murat Ağırel. Medyascope filmed the Istanbul turnout, saying participants gathered from noon to oppose journalists’ imprisonment, media trustee appointments and restrictions on access to news. Six organizations issued a joint declaration demanding freedom for imprisoned journalists, an end to judicial pressure on reporting, and a halt to trustee appointments at media organizations. They also called for removal of access restrictions described as unlawful, fair distribution of public advertising and announcements, and an end to attacks on press freedom. Labor and public-sector unions, professional bodies and bar associations joined the Istanbul event. The announced programme covered Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Antalya, Adana, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Eskişehir, Kocaeli and Van, with advance reports saying some locations would hold press statements instead of marches. TR724 reported protests in Ankara at Kolej Square and then along Sakarya Street, plus activity in İzmir, Eskişehir, Antalya, Adana, Van and Diyarbakır, and solidarity activity in Gebze in Kocaeli province. The protests followed multiple October detentions linked to the country’s media laws. BBC News Türkçe reported that İsmail Arı was jailed on October 21 after a complaint by former RTÜK head Ebubekir Şahin, accused of publicly spreading misleading information. TR Haberleri said Arı denied the accusations in his prosecutor statement and said his work was journalism. BBC reported that Murat Ağırel was jailed on October 16 in an investigation linked to the Sarıgül family. BBC also reported that Sözcü editor Mustafa Balcı and journalist Şaban Sevinç were jailed on October 10, while İsmail Saymaz was under house arrest in the same investigation. BBC stressed these were custody measures rather than convictions. Turkey’s disinformation law, passed in October 2022, makes publicly spreading misleading information punishable by one to three years in prison, and the Constitutional Court rejected a bid to annul the provision, BBC said. International support preceded the marches. The International Federation of Journalists said its Executive Committee adopted a motion on October 19 to 20 calling for the release of journalists detained for their professional work and urging Turkish authorities to end judicial harassment, arbitrary restrictions and political interference in media.