Turkey

2017

  
A young man on July 9 with a Turkish flag during a rally in Istanbul to mark the end of a 25-day-long protest against the detention of lawmaker Enis Berberoglu. The word in red means justice. (Reuters/Umit Bektas)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 8, 2017

Two media workers released from state custody, trial ongoing A Turkish court yesterday released Şirin Çoban and İlker İlkan, two employees of the shuttered Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat, from state custody during their first trial hearing, according to the online newspaper Gazete Karınca. The trial is ongoing.

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Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet, accompanied by his Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul, talks to media as they leave the Justice Palace in Istanbul, Turkey May 6, 2016. Dundar is now in exile in Germany. (Reuters/Osman Orsal)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 1, 2017

Turkish court banned coverage of alleged police beating incident A local Turkish court yesterday moved to ban news coverage of a story about two policemen allegedly beating a woman on the street in the southern coastal city of Alanya, the online newspaper Diken reported.

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A press freedom activist holds a copy of the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet during a demonstration in solidarity with the jailed members of the opposition newspaper outside a courthouse, in Istanbul on September 25. (Reuters/Osman Orsal)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 24, 2017

Spain releases Turkish journalist arrested on Ankara’s request Spanish authorities yesterday released the leftist writer Hamza Yalçın, who they had arrested in August at the request of the Turkish government, according to the daily Evrensel.

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey on September 8, 2017. An Istanbul court found Çağlar Özbilgin, an editor for the online newspaper Sendika and columnist for leftist newspaper Halkın Sesi, guilty of insulting the Turkish president for referring to the leader as a

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 17, 2017

Istanbul officials cancel press freedom award ceremony Officials in Istanbul today canceled a press freedom awards ceremony, according to the anti-censorship platform Susma.

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Protesters in Silivri, Turkey demonstrate in support of journalists and staff from the Cumhuriyet newspaper who Turkish officials have accused of aiding terror organizations. Their trial is part of a larger media crackdown under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 10, 2017

Court orders four Cumhuriyet managers and journalists to remain in custody for trial A Turkish court remanded four members of the Cumhuriyet newspaper yesterday who are on trial for terrorism-related charges, according to reports from their employer and Reuters.

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Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 3, 2017

Columnist’s passport returned Turkish authorities on September 7 returned Aslı Erdoğan, a former advisory board member of the shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem and a frequent columnist, her passport, according to the Hürriyet Daily News website, which cites Erdoğan’s lawyer.

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Members of the Journalists Union of Turkey shout slogans during a demonstration to mark World Press Freedom Day in Istanbul, Turkey on May 3. The placard reads: "Enough!" (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 27, 2017

Turkish authorities confiscate columnist’s passport Turkish police confiscated Aslı Erdoğan’s passport as the former advisory board member of the shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem and frequent columnist was on her way to Germany to accept an award for her work, according to a report yesterday on the online news site sendka.org.

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Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 20, 2017

New decree used to shutter three pro-Kurdish outlets The Turkey government shuttered three more pro-Kurdish media outlets yesterday, using a new decree issued under the state of emergency that has been in place since the failed attempted coup last year, the daily Cumhuriyet reported. Decree 693 was used to shutter the Dihaber news agency, the…

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A woman takes a selfie with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul, August 4, 2017. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 13, 2017

Court jails journalist pending trial for social media activity A court in Turkey’s southeastern Mardin province ordered Mehmet Sıddık Damar, a former reporter for the shuttered, pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), jailed pending trial on charges of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization” in his social media posts, the news website Dihaber reported today. Damar had…

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A screen shot of a Dihaber video shows a police officer scuffling with journalists at an August 6 opposition party protest in Istanbul.

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 6, 2017

Police detain journalist Police detained Berivan Altan, a reporter for the news website Dihaber, at checkpoint in the southeastern province of Mersin last night because there was a warrant for her arrest, the website reported today. At the time of publication, Altan was at Mersin Courthouse waiting for a prosecutor to question her.

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2017