At least 48 journalists detained in one week
Police in Turkey detained at least 48 journalists in the past week, according to the independent news website P24 and the Twitter account of Ben Gazeteciyim, a volunteer association of Turkish journalists formed to show solidarity with their threatened colleagues. At the time of publication, 21 of those detained were at Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse being interrogated by prosecutors and waiting to see a judge. Eren Şener, lawyer for journalists Bülent Mumay and Arda Akın, told the news website Bianet that prosecutors had asked his clients about their activity on Twitter, news stories they had written, and whether they viewed the Hizmet movement, which the Turkish government accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup on July 15 that left more than 200 people dead, as a terrorist organization.
According to P24 and Ben Gazeteciyim, the 21 people at Çağlayan Courthouse at the time of publication were:
- Habip Güler
- Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu
- Emre Soncan
- Seyit Kılıç
- Mehmed Gündem
- Cihan Acar
- Bayram Kaya
- Hüseyin Aydın
- Yakup Sağlam
- Hanım Büşra Erdal
- Nazlı Ilıcak
- Ali Akkuş
- Bülent Mumay
- Haşim Söylemez
- Bünyamin Köseli
- Abdullah Kılıç
- Cuma Ulus
- Arda Akın
- Ufuk Şanlı
- Yakup Çetin
- Mustafa Erkan Acar
According to P24 and Ben Gazeteciyim, police also detained the following journalists in the last week:
- Tuncer Çetinkaya
- Olgun Matur
- Ahmet Memiş
- Erkan Büyük
- Emre Koçali
- İsa Siyi
- Aytekin Gezici
- Yüksel Evsen
- Taner Talaş
- Hakan Bülent Yardımcı
- Rıfat Söylemez
- Şahin Alpay
- Nuriye Akman
- Ahmet Turan Alkan
- Zafer Özsoy
- Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş
- Cuma Kaya
- Murat Avcıoğlu
- Osman Nuri Arslan
- Hüseyin Turan
- Faruk Akkan
- Lokman Erdoğan
- Hüseyin Aydın
- Ali Bulaç
- Mümtazer Türköne
- Hilmi Yavuz
Government revokes credentials of at least 330 journalists
The General Directorate of Press-Publishing Information (BYEGM), the bureau within the prime minister’s office responsible for issuing press credentials to journalists has revoked the credentials of at least 330 journalists since the failed July 15 coup attempt, BYEGM Deputy Director Ekrem Okutan announced today, according to press reports.
[July 29, 2016]
More than 100 media organizations shuttered by decree
A decree signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday shuttered three news agencies, 16 television stations, 23 radio stations, 45 newspapers, 15 magazines, and 29 publishing houses and distribution companies. The decree also ordered the shuttered organizations’ assets to be transferred to the state’s treasury, but stipulated that the state would not assume the organizations’ debts. Going forward, any cabinet member may order the closure of any media organization if he deems it a threat to national security, the decree said. The decree, number 668, was published in Turkey’s Official Gazette (*.pdf) yesterday.The Turkish government alleges that the organizations shuttered by yesterday’s decree are linked to the Hizmet movement, which the government alleges orchestrated a failed July 15 military coup attempt that left more than 200 people dead.
The shuttered media outlets, publishing houses, and distribution companies are as follows:
News Agencies
- Cihan Haber Ajansı
- Muhabir Haber Ajansı
- SEM Haber Ajansı
TV Channels
- Barış TV
- Bugün TV
- Can Erzincan TV
- Dünya TV
- HİRA TV
- Irmak TV
- Kanal 124
- Kanaltürk
- MC TV
- Mehtap TV
- Merkür TV
- Samanyolu Haber
- Samanyolu TV
- SRT Televizyonu
- Tuna Shopping TV
- Yumurcak TV
Radio Stations
- Aksaray Mavi Radyo
- Aktüel Radyo
- Berfin FM
- Burç FM
- Cihan Radyo
- Dünya Radyo
- Esra Radyo
- Haber Radyo Ege
- Herkül FM
- Jest FM
- Kanaltürk Radyo
- Radyo 59
- Radyo Aile Rehberi
- Radyo Bamteli
- Radyo Cihan
- Radyo Fıkıh
- Radyo Küre
- Radyo Mehtap
- Radyo Nur
- Radyo Şemşik
- Samanyolu Haber Radyosu
- Umut FM
- Yağmur FM
Newspapers (local)
- Adana Haber Gazetesi
- Adana Medya Gazetesi
- Akdeniz Türk
- Şuhut’un Sesi Gazetesi
- Kurtuluş Gazetesi
- Lider Gazetesi
- İscehisar Durum Gazetesi
- Türkeli Gazetesi
- Antalya Gazetesi
- Yerel Bakış Gazetesi
- Nazar
- Batman Gazetesi
- Batman Postası Gazetesi
- Batman Doğuş Gazetesi
- Bingöl Olay Gazetesi
- İrade Gazetesi
- İskenderun Olay Gazetesi
- Ekonomi
- Ege’de Son Söz Gazetesi
- Demokrat Gebze
- Kocaeli Manşet
- Bizim Kocaeli
- Haber Kütahya Gazetesi
- Gediz Gazetesi
- Zafer Gazetesi
- Hisar Gazetesi
- Turgutlu Havadis Gazetesi
- Milas Feza Gazetesi
- Türkiye’de Yeni Yıldız Gazetesi
- Hakikat Gazetesi
- Urfa Haber Ajansı Gazetesi
- Ajans 11 Gazetesi
- Yeni Emek
- Banaz Postası Gazetesi
- Son Nokta Gazetesi
- Merkür Haber Gazetesi
Newspapers (national)
- Millet Gazetesi
- Bugün Gazetesi
- Meydan Gazetesi
- Özgür Düşünce Gazetesi
- Taraf
- Yarına Bakış
- Yeni Hayat
- Zaman Gazetesi
- Today’s Zaman
Magazines
- Akademik Araştırmalar Dergisi
- Aksiyon
- Asya Pasifik Dergisi
- Bisiklet Çocuk Dergisi
- Diyalog Avrasya Dergisi
- Ekolife Dergisi
- Ekoloji Dergisi
- Fountain Dergisi
- Gonca Dergisi
- Gül Yaprağı Dergisi
- Nokta
- Sızıntı
- Yağmur Dergisi
- Yeni Ümit
- Zirve Dergisi
Publishing Houses and Distribution Companies
- Altınburç Yayınları
- Burak Basın Yayın Dağıtım
- Define Yayınları
- Dolunay Eğitim Yayın Dağıtım
- Giresun Basın Yayın Dağıtım
- Gonca Yayınları
- Gülyurdu Yayınları
- GYV Yayınları
- Işık Akademi
- Işık Özel Eğitim Yayınları
- Işık Yayınları
- İklim Basın Yayın Pazarlama
- Kaydırak Yayınları
- Kaynak Yayınları
- Kervan Basın Yayıncılık
- Kuşak Yayınları
- Muştu Yayınları
- Nil Yayınları
- Rehber Yayınları
- Sürat Basım Yayın Reklamcılık Eğitim Araçları
- Sütun Yayınları
- Şahdamar Yayınları
- Ufuk Basın Yayın Haber Ajans Pazarlama
- Ufuk Yayınları
- Waşanxaneya Nil
- Yay Basın Dağıtım
- Yeni Akademi Yayınları
- Yitik Hazine Yayınları
- Zambak Basın Yayın Eğitim Turizm
[July 28, 2016]
Prosecutors issue arrest warrants for another 46 journalists and media workers, detain at least 12 more
Turkish prosecutors issued 46 arrest warrants for journalists, other employees, and shareholders of the Feza Media Group, publishers of Zaman newspaper and its English-language sister publication, Today’s Zaman, the daily Hürriyet newspaper and the official Anatolia news agency reported today. According to Hürriyet, at least 12 of the people on the new list had been arrested by 11:40 a.m. local time.
Pro-government trustees took over the company in March following a court’s ruling that it was linked to the Hizmet movement, former tactical allies of the ruling party now blamed for orchestrating July 15’s failed military coup.
The 46 people whose arrest prosecutors today said they sought were:
- Osman Nuri Öztürk
- Ali Akbulut
- Bülent Keneş
- Mehmet Kamış
- Hüseyin Döğme
- Süleyman Sargın
- Veysel Ayhan
- Şeref Yılmaz
- Mehmet Akif Afşar
- Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş
- Alaattin Güner
- Faruk Kardıç
- Metin Tamer Gökçeoğlu
- Faruk Akkan
- Mümtazer Türköne
- Şahin Alpay
- Sevgi Akarçeşme
- Ali Ünal
- Mustafa Ünal
- Zeki Önal
- Hilmi Yavuz
- Ahmet Turan Alkan
- Lalezar Sarıibrahimoğlu
- Ali Bulaç
- Bülent Korucu
- İhsan Duran Dağı
- Nuriye Ural
- Hamit Çiçek
- Adil Gülçek
- Hamit Bilici
- Şenol Kahraman
- Melih Kılıç
- Nevzat Güner
- Mehmet Özdemir
- Fevzi Yazıcı
- Sedat Yetişkin
- Oktay Vızvız
- Abdullah Katırcıoğlu
- Behçet Akyar
- Murat Avcıoğlu
- Yüksel Durgut
- Zafer Özsoy
- Cuma Kaya
- Hakan Taşdelen
- Osman Nuri Arslan
- Ömer Karakaş
According to Hürriyet, the following shareholders in the FIA were in police custody this morning, local time:
- Zafer Özsoy
- Cuma Kaya
- Murat Avcıoğlu
- Osman Nuri Arslan
Police also detained
- Şahin Alpay, a journalist
- Nuriye Ural Akman, a journalist
- Hüseyin Turan, a shareholder in the Feza Media Group,
- Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, deputy chairman of Cihan Media
- Şeref Yılmaz, of the broadcaster Irmak TV
- Faruk Akkan, general manager of the Cihan News Agency
Police elected not to execute the arrest warrant for journalist Zeki Önal because of his old age and poor health, Hürriyet reported.
Prosecutors on July 25 announced they had issued arrest warrants for another 42 journalists.
At least 16 journalists detained
Police have detained at least 16 journalists from a list of 42 for whom authorities on July 25 said they had arrest warrants, Hürriyet reported today. According to the newspaper, those journalists are:
- Nazlı Ilıcak
- Seyit Kılıç
- Yakup Sağlam
- Bayram Kaya
- Cihan Acar
- Bünyamin Köseli
- Emre Soncan
- Mustafa Erkan Acar
- Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu
- Abdullah Kılıç
- Habip Güler
- Mehmet Gündem
- Cuma Ulus
- Hanım Büşra Erdal
- Hüseyin Aydın
- Bülent Mumay
Bülent Mumay was formerly an editor with Hürriyet and more recently an editor with the daily newspaper Birgün. After his name appeared on the list of journalists wanted by police on July 25, he wrote on Twitter that he would turn himself in to prosecutors. He and his supporters subsequently planned to go to Çağlayan Courthouse in Istanbul this morning for this purpose, but police detained him last night, Doğan News Agency (DHA) reported.
Anti-Terrorism police detain gendarmes in connection with journalist’s murder
Anti-terrorism police in İstanbul and the northeastern city Trabzon detained four officers in Turkey’s gendarmerie and the owner of a publishing house on suspicion of involvement in the 2007 murder of Hrant Dink, Agos, the newspaper Dink founded, reported today. Authorities have revived the investigation based on the allegation that the Hizmet movement was behind the journalist’s murder.
Four news agency journalists released
Police released DİHA news agency reporters Selami Aslan, Mehmet Sıddık, and JİNHA news agency reporters Esra Aydın and Ceylan Eraslan after two and a half hours yesterday, DİHA and JİNHA reported. Police gave the four no explanation as to the reasons for their detention. They were detained following an identification check while reporting from the bazaar in the Nusaybin district of Mardin , in southeastern Turkey yesterday.
Regulators censor news agency website for 43rd time
The Turkish telecommunications regulator TİB censored the website of the pro-Kurdish news agency DİHA for the 43rd time, DİHA reported today. The TİB also censored the website of the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem for the third time this month, according to the same report.
[July 27, 2016]
Police detain veteran journalist
Police in the seaside town of Bodrum today detain veteran journalist Nazlı Ilıcak, most recently a columnist for the now-defunct daily newspaper Özgür Düşünce, the Doğan News Agency reported. The journalist is under investigation under suspicion of affiliation with the Hizmet movement, which the government accuses of orchestrating a failed coup on July 15. Police confiscated books, notebooks, and a computer from the vacation home where Ilıcak was staying. She will be transferred to Istanbul today, the news agency reported.
Four journalists detained in southeastern Turkey
Police detained four journalists in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish Nusaybin district of Mardin, near the Iraq and Iran borders, the pro-Kurdish news agencies DİHA and JİNHA reported. Police detained DİHA reporters Selami Aslan and Mehmet Sıddık alongside JİNHA reporters Esra Aydın and Ceylan Eraslan while they were reporting from the local bazaar. According to DİHA, police first stopped the journalists, checked their identification cards, ran their national identification numbers through a database to determine whether they were wanted for any crimes, and let them go. But soon after, the same officers stopped the journalists and took them into custody. The reasons for the journalists’ detention were not immediately clear.
Police detain court reporter
Police in the western Turkish town of Manisa today detained Hanım Büşra Erdal, a court reporter formerly with the daily newspaper Zaman and most recently with the now-defunct daily newspaper Yeni Hayat, the daily newspaper Hürriyet reported. Police also suspect her of being a member of the Hizmet movement, according to press reports. Erdal was visiting her family in Manisa, and will be transferred to Istanbul today, the reports said.
State TV and radio reporters fired after coup attempt return to work
Twenty one journalists for state broadcaster TRT who lost their jobs following the July 15 failed coup attempt have been reinstated in their old jobs and have been cleared of suspicions that they had anything to do with the attempted coup, Mehmet Demir, one of reinstated TRT reporters and a representative of the HABER-SEN journalists’ syndicate, told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Demir said eight more TRT employees who are members of the HABER-SEN syndicate have yet to be reinstated in their old jobs, but that the syndicate was working with station management to reinstate the employees.
[July 26, 2016]
At least 42 journalists to be detained: State news agency
Police have warrants for the arrest of at least 42 journalists, the official Anatolia News Agency (AA) reported today. Police have already detained five of the journalists on the list today, according to an English-language website.
AA did not specify on what charges police sought the journalists. Many of the journalists on the reported list, which the Committee to Protect Journalists was not immediately able to verify, worked for media outlets which already taken over by pro-government trustees for their ties to the Hizmet movement, which the government has since accused of orchestrating a failed July 15, 2016, military coup. CPJ is researching the journalists’ individual cases.
The list AA reported is as follows:
- Abdullah Abdulkadiroğlu
- Abdullah Kılıç
- Ahmet Dönmez
- Ali Akkuş
- Arda Akın
- Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak
- Bayram Kaya
- Bilal Şahin
- Bülent Ceyhan
- Bülent Mumay
- Bünyamin Köseli
- Azmi Cemal Kalyoncu
- Cevheri Güven
- Cihan Acar
- Cuma Ulus
- Emre Soncan
- Ercan Gün
- Erkan Akkuş
- Ertuğrul Erbaş
- Fatih Akalan
- Fatih Yağmur
- Habip Güler
- Hanım Büşra Erdal
- Haşim Söylemez
- Hüseyin Aydın
- İbrahim Balta
- Kamil Maman
- Kerim Gün
- Levent Kenez
- Mahmut Hazar
- Mehmet Gündem
- Metin Yıkar
- Muhammed Fatih Uğur
- Mustafa Erkan Acar
- Mürsel Genç
- Selahattin Sevi
- Seyid Kılıç
- Turan Görüryılmaz
- Ufuk Şanlı
- Ufuk Emin Köroğlu
- Yakup Sağlam
- Yakup Çetin
According to the English-language, pro-Hizmet website Turkish Minute, police today detained Yakup Sağlam, İbrahim Balta, Seyid Kılıç, Bayram Kaya, and Cihan Acar, but were unable to find the other 37 wanted journalists.
Police detain at least four online news editors: reports
Istanbul police today detained Ahmet Memiş, Erkam Büyük, and Emre Koçali, all editors of the pro-Hizmet news website Haberdar, after the three turned themselves in upon hearing they were wanted by police, the daily newspaper Evrensel reported on its website today.
Said Sefa, the website’s editor-in-chief, on Friday wrote on Twitter that police had gone to his house, but that he was not there. The opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, citing Sefa’s posts to Twitter, subsequently reported that police had on Friday detained İsa Siyi, another editor at the website, and that Sefa would turn himself in for interrogation. It is unclear whether police also detained Sefa on Friday. He has not posted anything to Twitter since, and Haberdar has not been updated since.
Journalist arrested on terrorism charges
A court in the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin on Saturday jailed Zehra Doğan, an editor for the pro-Kurdish, entirely female-staffed JINHA news agency, pending the conclusion of her trial on charges of “membership in a [terrorist] organization,” according to JINHA and her lawyer, Şiraz Baran, who spoke with the Committee to Protect Journalists today.
Police detained the journalist on Friday in Nusaybin. The town, which has been the site of fighting between Turkish security forces and predominantly ethnic Kurdish youth, has been under curfew since March, though today that curfew was partially lifted, according to press reports.
Witnesses said the journalist was seen with Bilal Güldem, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA) arrested in April and released in June pending the conclusion of his trial on similar charges. Doğan denies the charges against her, and maintains she is being tried for her journalism.
Police arrest editor of pro-Kurdish newspaper
Police in Diyarbakır today arrested Zeynel Abidin Bulut, editor of the Pro-Kurdish daily Azadiya Welat, at a checkpoint, the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reported.
Azadiya Welat‘s lawyer, Resul Tanur, told CPJ Bulut was wanted on old charges, and that an appeals court had upheld a sentence against the editor without his knowledge. Tanur said that the case against Bulut was old, that he did not know on what charges Bulut was imprisoned, or whether they were related to his journalism.
Columnist released on probation
Counter-terrorism police released columnist and lawyer Orhan Kemal Cengiz on probation, the news website Bianet reported today. Police detained the journalist on July 21 at Istanbul’s Atatürk airport as he and his wife attempted to travel from Turkey, he told reporters after his release. Cengiz is prevented from leaving Turkey as part of his probation.
Cengiz said in remarks reported by Bianet that though he wrote for Zaman newspaper and acted as Zaman‘s lawyer, these activities were strictly professional, and police interrogated him only about a few posts he had made to Twitter, not his columns or his work as a lawyer.
A court in March 2016 appointed pro-government trustees for Zaman, finding that the newspaper was linked to the Hizmet movement.
At least 30 news-related websites censored since coup attempt: report
Regulators and courts have censored at least 30 news websites or news-related websites since the July 15 failed attempt, the opposition daily newspaper Cumhuriyet reported Saturday.
Many of the censored websites have been sympathetic to the Hizmet movement, but the list also includes Turkish websites not affiliated with the Hizmet movement, such as the website of the socialist satirical weekly LeMan and international websites sites such as Archive.org and Wikileaks.
According to Cumhuriyet, the websites censored since July 15 are as follows:
- archive.org
- fethullahgulen.com
- samanyoluhaber.tv
- samanyolutv.eu
- leman.com.tr
- samanyolu.tv
- samanyoluhaber1.com
- sizinti.com.tr
- wikileaks.org
- haberdar.com
- abcgazetesi.com
- aktifhaber.com
- aytachaber.com
- bazhaber.com
- canerzincantv.com
- gazeteport.com
- globalhaber.com.tr
- grihat.com.tr
- haberpark.com.tr
- haberzili.com.tr
- karsigazete.com.tr
- mefkuretv.com
- meydangazetesi.com.tr
- on7yirmi5.com
- ozgurherkul.org
- postmedya.com
- rotahaber.com
- samanyoluhaber.com
- starmetre.com
- yagmurdergisi.com.tr
[July 25, 2016]