The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to immediately release journalist Fatih Altaylı following his June 22 arrest and imprisonment on accusations of threatening Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in connection with his commentary on a public poll.

“Fatih Altaylı’s arrest is a blatant attempt to intimidate an influential commentator into self-censorship,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Authorities should immediately release Altaylı, stop targeting critical voices, and allow journalists to do their job without fear of reprisal.”

On June 20, Altaylı—who regularly shares content to his 1.5 million YouTube subscribers and 2.8 million X followers—commented on a public poll in which 70% of Turkish voters indicated that they preferred to vote for another leader after Erdoğan, who won’t be eligible to run in the country’s 2028 elections due to a two-term limit. In his commentary, Altaylı said the Turkish people “love the ballot box” and wouldn’t want to abandon the right to determine their own future. He added, “This nation is a nation that strangled their sultan when they didn’t like things; didn’t want him. A nation that booed their sultan.”

In his testimony to the authorities, Altaylı said he didn’t threaten the president but merely voiced well known historical facts, and his comments meant to underline how the Turkish people value democracy.

On Monday, a video of an empty chair was uploaded to Altaylı’s channel in protest of his arrest, which has been viewed more than 788.000 times.

CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Altaylı’s arrest from the chief prosecutor’s office in Istanbul did not receive a reply.