Our reporter Toprak targeted by Akit, her father suspended from office

İlayda Sorku

A new one is added every day to the injustices in the country. Hasan Toprak, a public servant of 30 years serving as a deputy director at an institution affiliated with the Bursa Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services, has been suspended from duty.

The decision came immediately after the report by his daughter, BirGün reporter Sarya Toprak, regarding the Gülistan Doku file (a high-profile missing woman case). The pro-government Yeni Akit openly targeted the Toprak family.

An administrative investigation was launched against Hasan Toprak, a civil servant for 30 years and a member of KESK, following a complaint made by a staff member at his institution approximately two months ago. The complaint directed accusations of "mobbing" and "insulting religious values" against Toprak.

The file contained no concrete evidence to support these allegations. Toprak continued his duties during the investigation process, which began about a month and a half ago.

Statements were taken from staff at the institution regarding the investigation, yet no suspension measures were applied. However, while the investigation—which had been ongoing for a month and a half—was not yet completed, an abrupt suspension order was issued for Toprak on 29 April.

TARGETED BY YENİ AKIT, FOLLOWED BY SUSPENSION

The decision followed the news report by our reporter Sarya Toprak regarding Uğurcan Açıkgöz, a suspect detained within the scope of the Gülistan Doku file. The report featured photos of Uğurcan Açıkgöz posing with long-barrelled weapons and noted that his uncle, Cihan Açıkgöz, was the AKP Tunceli Provincial Chairperson at the time of Gülistan Doku’s disappearance. Cihan Açıkgöz is currently a member of the AKP İzmir Provincial Executive Board.

Following this report, our reporter Sarya Toprak was systematically targeted from 18 April onwards by Yeni Akit columnist Zekeriya Say.

In the news published by Yeni Akit following Say’s social media posts, our reporter Sarya Toprak’s journalistic activities were criminalised, and her family was made the subject of the news.

In violation of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data, the family’s personal information was shared. The report also targeted father Hasan Toprak’s workplace, his civil service history, his membership in KESK, and his union activities.

CALLS TO "TAKE ACTION"

In these social media posts, the official accounts of the police, the Bursa Governorship, and the AKP Bursa Provincial Presidency were tagged with calls to "take action."

Immediately after these publications, Hasan Toprak who had been under investigation for a month and a half without any precautionary measures was notified of his suspension on 29 April. Summoned to the Provincial Directorate on the same day, the decision was also conveyed to Toprak verbally.

"HE WAS THE ONLY ADMINISTRATOR WHO WAS A KESK MEMBER"

KESK Bursa Term Spokesperson Derviş Erdem spoke to BirGün regarding the matter. Stating that the suspension decision was not based on any legal grounds, Erdem said, "Our colleague Hasan Toprak was the only KESK member serving as an administrator in the institutions affiliated with the Bursa Directorate of Family and Social Services. For this reason, they suspended him based on fabricated pretexts."

Noting that Toprak became an administrator years ago through a promotion-by-title exam, Erdem stated: "The current administration finds it unacceptable for even one KESK member to be an institution director, to the extent that a suspension decision can be issued based on a tip-off that is clearly a slander unsupported by concrete findings. Our member is a merit-owning administrator loved by everyone. Instead of dealing with such slanders, it would be more beneficial for the current administration to open the Ali Osman Sönmez Nursing Home, which has the largest nursing home capacity in Bursa but has been inactive for years under the guise of renovation. Today, there are more than 600 elderly citizens in the city waiting for admission."

Recalling the news report by Yeni Akit newspaper, Erdem added: "Targeting a family in this manner is unacceptable and very problematic. They always do this. First, a newspaper targets them, then provincial directorates and the governorship quickly take a position. We have seen this again very clearly in this incident. They suddenly suspended our colleague while the investigation was still ongoing. The family's personal information was also shared. We will file a criminal complaint regarding this matter as well."

SYSTEMATIC PRESSURE

"We will meet with the Provincial Director of Family and Social Policies this week regarding the suspension of our colleague without any concrete justification," Erdem continued, adding:

"Our demand is for appointments to be based on merit. They target anyone who is not a member of the 'yellow union' and want to remove them from office. This has become systematic. Other colleagues have experienced similar things before. We will continue to struggle against these practices."

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Akit’in hedef gösterdiği muhabirimiz Toprak'ın babası açığa alındı, published in BirGün newspaper on May 4, 2026.