Fatih Altaylı, a veteran Turkish journalist imprisoned over alleged threats to President Erdoğan, continues to captivate audiences through his YouTube show featuring an empty chair symbolizing censorship and absence.
Fatih Altaylı, a renowned Turkish journalist, remains one of the country’s most-watched news figures despite being imprisoned since June for alleged threats to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. His YouTube show, Fatih Altaylı Yorumlayamıyor (“Fatih Altaylı Cannot Comment”), features a fixed camera on an empty gray chair as a narrator reads his letters from prison—an image that has come to symbolize his silenced voice.
Altaylı was arrested after remarks referencing how Ottoman sultans were once overthrown, which officials interpreted as a threat. He denied wrongdoing, saying his words were taken out of context and merely illustrated Turks’ commitment to democracy.
The show, produced by Emre Acar, has drawn millions of viewers and 60,000 new subscribers, underscoring public frustration over media repression. “The empty chair spoke louder than words,” Acar said.
Altaylı’s next hearing is set for November, though he recently paused his broadcasts for medical reasons, leaving viewers with a final message: “A Little Leave for Us.”