Kadri Gürsel

Kadri Gürsel (born 1961) is a Turkish journalist. He became prominent when the Turkish government imprisoned him for his coverage on groups associated with terrorism. On October 31, 2016, while working for the newspaper Cumhuriyet, Kadri Gürsel was taken into custody together with many of his colleagues. The journalists were arrested for alleged ties to terrorist organizations, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), and the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ). He was born in 1961 in Istanbul, Turkey. He attended the boarding school Galatasaray High School in 1972.

In 1986, Gürsel started working in journalism at Yeni Gündem and continued to work for daily newspapers, including Cumhuriyet, Günes and Sabah, and news magazines. After the closing of Yeni Gündem in 1988, he worked as an editor for various newspapers until 1993. He later joined the Milliyet publishing group in 1997 as the vice editor-in-chief of Arti Haber, a weekly news magazine.

Capture by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party On March 31, 1995, while working as the Agence French-Presse's Istanbul correspondent, Gürsel and Reuters photographer Fatih Sarıbaş were captured for 26 days by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Gürsel wrote a book about the experience called Dağdakiler ("Those of the Mountains" in English).

Imprisonment by Turkish authorities People protesting imprisonment of journalists from Cumhuriyet in Şişli, İstanbul. (3) On October 31, 2016, Gürsel and his colleagues were taken into custody for allegedly being linked to terror groups — including the PKK, the group that held him captive in 1995 — through the Cumhuriyet newspaper. While imprisoned the public and many of his colleagues fought for the release of Gürsel and his staff.

Release An Istanbul court ordered the release of Gürsel on September 25, 2017. On this day, 200 people gathered outside Istanbul's Cagalyan Courthouse carrying portraits of the jailed journalist and banners with slogans. A photo of him reuniting with his wife went viral, which showed the couple kissing after being apart for 11 months.

Post-release Upon his release, Gürsel stated that “each hearing of the Cumhuriyet case was historic because it showed how journalism could be defended and how empty the accusations were.” The detainment of Gürsel and his colleagues caused outrage amongst the public.

On January 8, 2019, Gürsel started a political commentary show on Medyascope, a Turkish political news network on YouTube.