TRT also did not recognize the court – Barış Pehlivan

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“First of all, I would like to state that I was appointed to the Department of Education and Research due to the successes I achieved on behalf of TRT in war zones, under extraordinary conditions, by fulfilling my duty properly. As a reward for my determination and desire to work, known by the institution, I worked as hard as I could to convey my knowledge and experience to young journalists and reporters who have just started their profession. I would like to express that I did all this work in front of my superiors and the staff working in the Education and Research Department.

I would like to point out that relying on the claim that I have not been on duty for a total of 168 days, in other words more than 5 months, is contrary to the normal flow of life. The claim that I did not go to work without permission for more than half of the 10-month period between January 14, 2022 and November 25, 2022, when I was temporarily assigned, does not fit into reason and logic. It is clear that a public institution that acts in accordance with the procedures and laws cannot remain indifferent about a personnel who is absent for half of his term of office. In other words, it is not possible for an officer who has not come to work without permission for 168 days, that is, more than 5 months, to be unnoticed by his superior, or to not have a single report kept about him, or to not have received a warning. If I did not come to work for 168 days, as claimed, and the institution has not noticed this until today, there is a much more serious problem here. Then, I would like to point out that during this assignment, all consecutive superiors (up to the TRT general manager) working in the Department of Education and Research should be the subjects of many such judicial and disciplinary investigations. On the other hand, although it was claimed that I did not come for 168 days, the exact dates of these periods were not detailed. Because it is known to everyone that the turnstiles at the gates are broken. In this state, it is not possible to make a clear determination for 168 days. And again, my defense was not even taken at that time regarding the days when I allegedly did not come during this period. Because such a situation has never happened.”

AND FOR THE THIRD TIME…

The lines you read above were presented to TRT a month ago as “my last defense”. Its author is Elif Akkuş, who has been a journalist for more than a quarter of a century. In other words, the successful war reporter who was suspended from TRT, which he joined before the AKP existed, was subjected to repeated investigations, and was arrested twice.

Her lawyer, Hüseyin Ersöz, first made the following announcement: “Unfounded allegations were made against TRT news reporter Elif Akkuş and the penalty of ‘dismissal from civil service’ was imposed twice. With the annulment decision of the Istanbul 8th Administrative Court dated 27 November 2025, the way was paved for journalist Elif Akkuş to return to TRT. We applied to TRT on this issue and requested that Elif Akkuş be reinstated.”

A few hours passed. Lawyer Ersöz made another new post: “We have learned that TRT news reporter Elif Akkuş has been dismissed for the 3rd time with the notification we have just received. In the notification we received today, dated yesterday, it was ‘re-claimed’ that Elif Akkuş did not come to duty for 168 days without an excuse. Imagine that in 2022, an employee does not come to duty for 168 days without an excuse, and this situation is subject to investigation not at that time, but 2 years later. This “It should also be stated that this allegation is refuted by witness statements, apart from the fact that the situation is incompatible with the ‘seriousness of the state’. Let us also state that this allegation was refuted by the statements of three witnesses at the level of the deputy general manager and the manager in the file of the Ankara 34th High Criminal Court, and the court gave an acquittal decision regarding these allegations.”

Well…

In other words, in a country where the courts do not recognize the decision of the Constitutional Court, the state channel TRT does not recognize the court decision either. They put the shroud on our backs and we thought we were still alive.