Our photographs reflect not only us, but also the society of that day and the changes that have taken place from that day to the present

Look at these lines. He says: “I spent 9 years and 2 months in prison because of 6 newspaper columns. I was subjected to ill-treatment. I no longer have my former health. I am condemned to walk with a cane...”

These lines belong to Gültekin Avcı, a renowned Turkish lawyer, former public prosecutor, attorney, journalist, poet, and writer, who is marked in photo number 6 below and also seen in photo number 8.

Simply for criticizing unlawful developments in Turkiye, he was imprisoned in 2016, using six newspaper columns as a pretext. He spent more than nine years in prison, deprived of many of his rights. He was in poor health when he was released. The newspaper he wrote for, and the television channels that featured him as a commentator, were shut down by the regime.

The title of the article actually reflects this. A lot has changed in his life, and in Turkey as well, in the time that has passed since the day the photo was taken.

Türkiye ranks first in the world among countries that imprison the most journalists. In fact, the number of imprisoned journalists is many times greater than the total number in all NATO and European Union countries combined. To conceal this truth from the world and to defend itself against criticism from democratic countries, the regime in Türkiye labels these journalists as terrorists. Their only crime, however, is speaking out against the government’s illegal actions.

The person you see to my left in the first photo is Ahmet Turan Alkan, a renowned writer and academic known for his beautiful command of the Turkish language. He, too, was imprisoned for years on the pretext of a few newspaper columns he wrote, and he lost his health while in prison. He became disillusioned with life. He gave up writing.

He died two weeks ago, on January 21, 2026. In a letter he wrote from prison in 2018, beginning with “I appeal to free and democratic consciences…”, he said: “I will not lick the knife that cuts my throat. I will not beg forgiveness from the oppressor. I will not plead with the officials of politics, ‘Please release me.'” Prison life became the cause of his death.

Sitting to my right in the same photo is Ali Bulaç, a renowned Turkish sociologist and writer. He was imprisoned in 2016 and spent years in jail, allegedly for a few columns he wrote criticizing the government. He was a thinker respected even by people with very different viewpoints in Türkiye.

Photographs tell so much to people… Each one is a visual document of history. For example, I have Ukrainian friends. Their country was invaded by Russia in February 2022. A very fierce war began in Ukraine. Millions of people left their country for safety reasons. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives. When I look at the Instagram accounts of some Ukrainian friends I know, I don’t see any posts on their accounts since the date their country was invaded. Even though they live safely in the countries where they sought refuge, they don’t make cheerful posts because of the suffering in their own country.

What I mean is this: not only shared photos, but also unshared photos hold a significant place in the history of families and nations. Just like private letters written to a loved one but never sent. Sometimes silence is a powerful scream.

In photo number 2, the person on my left is Kazım Güleçyüz, the editor-in-chief of Yeni Asya Newspaper, one of Turkey’s long-established newspapers. He was imprisoned for sharing a condolence message on his social media account following the death of Fethullah Gülen, a world-renowned religious scholar and author, on December 20, 2024. Even a condolence message was considered a crime. The real aim was to intimidate the masses by frightening public opinion with such accusations. The media group run by the well-known journalist Tarık Toros, who is pictured to my right in the same photograph, was also seized and shut down by the regime. Ünal Tanık, the journalist on the far right in the same photo, owned a very influential news website. His website was shut down, and he was imprisoned.

The situation is even more dramatic in photo number 3. Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül, sitting to my left in his blue jacket and the presenter of the program, was imprisoned in 2016 simply for hosting a program on a channel the regime disliked. While in prison, he contracted COVID-19 three times and suffered two heart attacks. He died of a heart attack in prison on July 30, 2022. The journalist Can Ataklı, who is on my right in the same photo, is dealing with lawsuits filed against him for comments he made on his YouTube programs. The other three guests sitting opposite me on the program are Hakan Kırmacı, Emre Soncan, and the well-known music artist Gökmen Ürü. All three are currently in exile in different countries. They would be arrested if they returned to the country.

The journalist in photo number 4, NAZLI ILICAK, was one of Turkey’s most powerful and well-known female journalists. She was imprisoned in 2016 at the age of 72 for her writings critical of the government. When she was released on January 28, 2024, at the age of 80, she had lost much of her former health.

The journalist in photo number 5, Bedrettin Uğur, was one of Turkey’s most renowned journalists. He produced highly influential television programs. He would have been in prison if he hadn’t fled the country with his family. He now tries to continue his profession in Germany and produces impactful documentaries.

The woman in photo number 6, journalist SEDEF KABAŞ, had visited Canada in recent months for book signings and talks. She was a journalist who attracted considerable attention at the events she participated in. After returning to Turkey, she was detained on January 27, 2026, for criticizing Erdoğan. She was banned from leaving the country. She had previously been tried in 2019 for “insulting the President” and sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison. Her words were statements that would never be considered a crime in any democratic country.

The person in photo number 7 is Kurdish journalist and writer Mehmet Baransu. He has been imprisoned for 11 years for writing about corruption and illegalities in the government. Even though many of the claims in his writings have proven true, he remains incarcerated. He has no one to support him. Yet, in the mid-2000s, he was the one who exposed coup plots against the AKP government. If Erdoğan is still in power today, he owes a great deal to him.

In photo number 8, the journalist sitting to my right is Hidayet Karaca. He was the manager of a large media group with numerous television and radio stations. He was a member of the Press Council’s High Board and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Television Broadcasters Association. After the program we attended together, he was first detained on December 14, 2014, and then arrested on December 18. In court, he asked the judge if there was a single piece of evidence against him. The judge couldn’t answer. He has been in prison for over 11 years. The prison sentence given to him is over 1500 years. According to some claims, the date of his arrest was deliberately chosen. Because exactly one year before this date, allegations of corruption against some government ministers exploded onto the scene. Raza Zarrab, who was accused of bribing government ministers, was arrested in America and became a cooperating witness. He pleaded guilty to the bribery charges.

Erhan Akkuş, pictured in photo number 9, was one of Turkey’s most well-known news anchors. He too was arrested and imprisoned on fabricated charges simply for working as an anchor on a television channel critical of the government.

I don’t want this text to get any longer, because it’s possible to share hundreds more of these photos. At the time they were taken, these photos were merely images on television screens, but later they became part of the completely different destinies of those people. It’s not just the speeches you give; even appearing on a television channel the regime dislikes is enough to ruin your life.

We need to ask ourselves this question…

While it’s understandable that people living in democratic countries often exhibit xenophobia, especially towards refugees, we must not forget this: Why would a person leave their spouse, job, child, parents, family, relatives, even their home and car, to seek asylum in another country? The most important thing a person can have in this world is freedom. Freedom of expression is at the top of this list. That’s why dictators target journalists and the free press first. Journalists are the ones who pay the highest price in the world. In fact, this is what we want to convey with the testimony of the photographs in this article. All of these people lost their lives, health, freedom, and families while fighting for their countries to be more democratic.

In this article, I have tried to tell you the story of a country that rapidly evolved into a dictatorship after 2016, using some photographs. Even these represent only a small fraction of the victims I have witnessed firsthand. There are thousands more examples of this, many of which we are unaware of. The unfortunate truth is that these kinds of events will continue as never-ending stories in different countries and regions in the future. Our duty today is to stand by those who are victims in this matter. Because that is what it means to be human.

written by Prof. Dr. Osman OZSOY