Kurdish journalist Sıddık Güler had been sentenced to two years, four months and three days in prison in January 2018 in connection with his journalistic activities, but had appealed the judgement. Most recently, the Turkish Court of Cassation rejected his appeal and upheld the prison sentence handed down for him for alleged propaganda for a "terrorist organisation". After the ruling, the journalist was arrested and transferred to the high-security prison in Van on Monday.

Sıddık Güler has been working as a journalist in the tradition of the free Kurdish press since 1998. He was a regional correspondent for the newspapers "Özgür Bakış", "2000'de Yeni Gündem" and "Yedinci Gündem" in the Kurdish provinces and is one of the co-founders of the DIHA news agency, which was established in 2002 and banned by emergency decree in autumn 2016 following the alleged pseudo-coup attempt in Turkey. In 2013, he left DIHA and became editor-in-chief of the regional newspaper Van Haber, while at the same time taking on the position of Secretary General of the Vangölü Journalists' Association, which he held until 2015. Most recently, Sıddık Güler worked as editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Serhat News.

State repression, charges and convictions for allegedly supporting terrorism or insulting the president, obstructions to research and threats on the street are part of everyday life for critical journalists in Turkey. Anyone reporting from the Kurdish regions of the country is under particular scrutiny by the authorities and the judiciary. According to a report by the Dicle Fırat Journalists' Association (DFG), there are currently at least 61 media professionals in Turkish prisons. This means that Turkey remains one of the world's largest prisons for critical journalists.