French journalist arrested in Turkey while covering pro-Kurdish protest released
A French journalist who was arrested while covering a protest over a Syrian government offensive targeting Kurdish fighters has been released, though it is not clear whether the charges against him have been dropped.
Issued on: 22/01/2026 - RFI
A French journalist who was arrested while covering a protest over a Syrian government offensive targeting Kurdish fighters has been released, though it is not clear whether the charges against him have been dropped.
Issued on: 22/01/2026 - RFI
Raphael Boukandoura, a French journalist who has been living and working in Turkey for nearly a decade, was released Wednesday after he was detained by police while covering a pro-Kurdish demonstration in Istanbul. © Boukandoura family via AFP
"I am on my way home," Raphael Boukandoura, 35, told the AFP news agency in a brief phone call on Wednesday. He was speaking from a taxi bringing him home from the migrant detention centre in Arnavutkoy, near Istanbul airport, where he had been transferred after his arrest on Monday.
His lawyer Emine Ozhasar confirmed he had been freed, adding that they were still waiting to hear details of his release.
Boukandoura, who has been living in Turkey for at least a decade and holds an official press card, was arrested on Monday while he was covering a protest called by pro-Kurdish opposition party DEM for the French daily newspaper Libération.
He was arrested along with nine other people when police broke up the protest, and was accused of joining in with the protesters shouting slogans against the Turkish military offensive targeting Kurds in north-eastern Syria.
He denied taking part in the protest, and said he was there as a journalist covering the event.
Turkey's independent media on alert over stance of tech giants
'Hazardous job'
France's foreign ministry had on Tuesday said it hoped Boukandoura, who regularly covers Turkey for French publications, would be "freed as quickly as possible".
The European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur Nacho Sanchez Amor had also said he was following "with concern" the reporter's case, especially the threat of deportation.
"Independent journalism is really a hazardous job in Turkiye for locals and foreigners," he wrote on social media before Boukandoura's release.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had earlier called it "unacceptable" to threaten a French journalist with expulsion for doing his job.
"It is intended to intimidate journalists covering pro-Kurdish protests in Turkey," the group’s Turkey representative Erol Onderoglu told AFP.
(with AFP)
"I am on my way home," Raphael Boukandoura, 35, told the AFP news agency in a brief phone call on Wednesday. He was speaking from a taxi bringing him home from the migrant detention centre in Arnavutkoy, near Istanbul airport, where he had been transferred after his arrest on Monday.
His lawyer Emine Ozhasar confirmed he had been freed, adding that they were still waiting to hear details of his release.
Boukandoura, who has been living in Turkey for at least a decade and holds an official press card, was arrested on Monday while he was covering a protest called by pro-Kurdish opposition party DEM for the French daily newspaper Libération.
He was arrested along with nine other people when police broke up the protest, and was accused of joining in with the protesters shouting slogans against the Turkish military offensive targeting Kurds in north-eastern Syria.
He denied taking part in the protest, and said he was there as a journalist covering the event.
Turkey's independent media on alert over stance of tech giants
'Hazardous job'
France's foreign ministry had on Tuesday said it hoped Boukandoura, who regularly covers Turkey for French publications, would be "freed as quickly as possible".
The European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur Nacho Sanchez Amor had also said he was following "with concern" the reporter's case, especially the threat of deportation.
"Independent journalism is really a hazardous job in Turkiye for locals and foreigners," he wrote on social media before Boukandoura's release.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had earlier called it "unacceptable" to threaten a French journalist with expulsion for doing his job.
"It is intended to intimidate journalists covering pro-Kurdish protests in Turkey," the group’s Turkey representative Erol Onderoglu told AFP.
(with AFP)
A French journalist was one of 10 people arrested in Istanbul late Monday at a protest over a Syrian government offensive targeting Kurdish fighters, the pro-Kurdish DEM party told French news agency AFP.
Issued on: 20/01/2026 - RFI
Protesters gather and show victory signs during a demonstration against the attacks by the Syrian government forces, in Diyarbalir, the main city in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast, on 19 January 2026. AFP - ILYAS AKENGIN
Raphaël Boukandoura, who works for various French publications including Ouest France and Courrier International, was arrested outside DEM's Istanbul headquarters in the Sancaktepe district, it said.
His arrest was also confirmed by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who called for him to be freed without delay.
"We call for the immediate release of our colleague who did nothing but his legitimate duty to cover a protest," RSF's Turkey representative Erol Onderoglu told AFP.
"RSF is closely following his case and calls on the authorities to put an end to such arbitrary interference against media professionals," he said.
Ouest France echoed the call for him to be freed "immediately".
Raphaël Boukandoura, who works for various French publications including Ouest France and Courrier International, was arrested outside DEM's Istanbul headquarters in the Sancaktepe district, it said.
His arrest was also confirmed by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who called for him to be freed without delay.
"We call for the immediate release of our colleague who did nothing but his legitimate duty to cover a protest," RSF's Turkey representative Erol Onderoglu told AFP.
"RSF is closely following his case and calls on the authorities to put an end to such arbitrary interference against media professionals," he said.
Ouest France echoed the call for him to be freed "immediately".
Call for protection
The police intervened after a DEM statement was read out calling for "an immediate halt to the attacks" and for the protection of civilians in northeastern Syria, Turkish news reports showed.
Syrian forces began an offensive nearly two weeks ago which pushed Kurdish-led SDF forces out of the northern city of Aleppo, and expanded over the weekend to push deep into territory that has been held by Kurdish forces for over a decade.
People celebrate in Sheikh Maksoud neighbourhood following the collapse of an agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Aleppo, Syria, 10 January 2026. REUTERS - Khalil Ashawi
The move was hailed by Ankara as a legitimate "fight against terror" but triggered angry protests among Turkey's Kurds, who make up a fifth of the country's population of 86 million and who have been deeply unsettled by the violence.
It has also raised questions about the fate of Turkey's peace process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a bid to draw a line under a four-decade insurgency that cost some 50,000 lives.
The move was hailed by Ankara as a legitimate "fight against terror" but triggered angry protests among Turkey's Kurds, who make up a fifth of the country's population of 86 million and who have been deeply unsettled by the violence.
It has also raised questions about the fate of Turkey's peace process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a bid to draw a line under a four-decade insurgency that cost some 50,000 lives.
Ceasefire negotiations collapse
The PKK on Tuesday said it would "never abandon" Kurds in Syria.
"You should know...whatever the cost, we will never leave you alone.. we as the entire Kurdish people and as the movement, will do whatever is necessary," Murat Karayilan of the PKK was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, negotiations have collapsed between the Syrian president and the chief of the country's Kurdish-led forces, a Kurdish official told AFP on Tuesday, as the army deployed reinforcements to flashpoint areas in the north.
US and EU urge fresh talks between Syria govt, Kurds after deadly clashes
President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, who heads the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), were meeting to discuss a ceasefire agreement that included integrating the Kurds' administration into the state.
The agreement had marked a blow for the Kurds' long-held ambitions of preserving the de facto autonomy they had exercised in swathes of northern Syria for over a decade.
Sunday's ceasefire deal included the Kurds' handover of Arab-majority Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces, which they administered after their US-backed defeat of IS at the height of Syria's civil war.
Sharaa, who is backed by the United States and Turkey, has refused to entertain the idea of decentralisation or federal rule, and insisted the army must deploy across Syria.
(with AFP)
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