resolution motion, 7 October 2024
On the case of Bülent Mumay in Türkiye
Motion B-10-2024-0100 · (2024/2856(RSP))
on behalf of the ECR Group · Rapporteur: Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, Adam Bielan, Veronika Vrecionová, Ondřej Krutílek, Sebastian Tynkkynen, Assita Kanko
AI:In short
This resolution concerns the case of journalist Bülent Mumay in Türkiye, who was sentenced to 20 months in prison for social media posts. It calls for the annulment of all charges against him and expresses concerns about press freedom in Türkiye. It also recognizes the decrease in jailed journalists but remains concerned about the deterioration of free press, and calls for revision and monitoring of Türkiye's Disinformation Law.
Key points
- Calls for the immediate and unconditional annulment of all charges against Bülent Mumay.
- Recognises that 90% of national media in Türkiye is under government control, and that DW's websites were blocked in 2022 due to lack of licenses.
- Recognises the decrease in jailed journalists but remains concerned about the deterioration of free and open press.
- Calls for revision and close monitoring of Türkiye's Disinformation Law to prevent punitive use against free press.
- Considers press freedom under constant duress and recognises a pattern of arbitrary charges against journalists.
Who is affected
- Journalists in Türkiye, particularly Bülent Mumay, who face legal charges for social media posts.
- Turkish government and courts, which are urged to annul charges and revise the Disinformation Law.
Figures and deadlines
Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem
Full text
Text 16 paragraphs
B100100/2024
Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the case of Bülent Mumay in Türkiye
(2024/2856(RSP))
The European Parliament,
–having regard to Rule 150 of the Rules of Procedure,
A.whereas Bülent Mumay is a journalist working in Türkiye for Deutsche Welle (DW) who posted a story on Twitter (now X), naming a construction company that had unfairly seized the funds from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) that were meant for a Istanbul subway project;
B.whereas the construction company Mumay exposed, Met-Gün İnşaat, got the Criminal Judgeship of Pease to issue a ban on Mumay’s tweet based on ‘violation of personal rights’;
C.whereas Mumay was charged with ‘illegally obtaining or distributing personal data’ and sentenced to 20 months in prison for social media posts where he criticized the pro-government construction company’s seizure of Istanbul Municipality’s subway fund; whereas Mumay’s appeal was rejected by the Appeals court on 20 August 2024;
D.whereas the Turkish court orders Twitter (now X), to remove any post related to the issue after already ordering the removal of Bülent Mumay’s posts at the request of the construction company owner while simultaneously ordering the Information and Technologies Authority (BTK) to block access to any news reports that Mumay’s appeal was rejected;
E.whereas Türkiye had 13 journalists jailed as of a census counted in 2023, which is considered an improvement from the previous count of 40 in 2022 while many of those freed are still under investigation or are awaiting trial;
1.Calls for the immediate and unconditional annulment of all charges against Bülent Mumay.
2.Recognises that 90% of the national media in Türkiye is now under government control, while DW Germany's state-owned broadcaster, had their websites blocked in the country in 2022 because the company did not have the necessary licenses and decided not to apply for them.
3.Recognises that the number of jailed journalists has decreased considerably in Türkiye in the past two years, yet remains concerned with the deterioration of free and open press within the country.
4.Recognises that within the context of gross regional instability, the attempted coup d’etat in 2016 and frequent terrorist attacks and cross border raids, Türkiye’s “Disinformation Law”, which allows the state to sentence someone to up to 3 years for sharing, liking or reposting posts on social media that the Turkish government considers to be disinformation that is meant to cause panic, should be revised and implementation closely monitored so it is not used punitively against free and independent press.
5.Considers the freedom of the press to be under constant duress under Erdogan’s government and recognises the pattern of levelling arbitrary charges against journalists.
6.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the EEAS, the Vice-President of the Commission/HRVP, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, Members of the Parliament and government of Türkiye.