22/07/2026 | Writer: Kaos GL
Kaos GL Editor-in-Chief Yıldız Tar, who was detained during the operations carried out ahead of the NATO Summit and arrested on 25 June, has been released. They had been held at Sincan Prison for approximately one month.
Kaos GL Editor-in-Chief Yıldız Tar, who was detained as part of the operations carried out ahead of the NATO Summit and arrested on 25 June, has been released from pretrial detention.
Also released were Associate Professor Emel Memiş of Ankara University's Faculty of Political Sciences, Umut-Sen spokesperson Burcu Arıkan, and TEMA volunteers. All of those released will continue to stand trial without being held in custody.
What happened?
Yıldız Tar was detained on 23 June during the operations conducted ahead of the NATO Summit. On 25 June, they were arrested on the allegation of "membership in an armed terrorist organization" and sent to Ankara Sincan Prison.
During questioning, Tar was not asked any questions related to NATO. Instead, prosecutors asked why they had shared on their social media accounts the talk titled "Not the Year of the Family, but the Year of Struggle," which was held after President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared 2025 the "Year of the Family."
In their statement, Tar said:
"I have written various news articles, interviews, opinion pieces, and reports on the 'Year of the Family' policies. All of these are part of my work as a journalist and fall within the scope of freedom of expression."
Tar also stated:
"As a journalist, let alone praising or encouraging terrorism-related offences, I would never endorse or incite any act of violence. I engage in journalism and writing to advance the fundamental rights and freedoms of the LGBTQI+ community to which I belong and to challenge prejudice against this community. In my statements, I exercised my right to freedom of expression through critical commentary."
Tags: human rights, media, life, lgbti
