Turkey

2018

  
Turkey's Vice President Fuat Oktay, pictured in Ankara in July 2018. Oktay said during parliamentary questions that authorities have revoked nearly 2,000 press credentials in the past three years (AP/Burhan Ozbilici)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 16, 2018

Journalist jailed over unpaid fines Hakan Gülseven, a journalist who used to work for the pro-opposition (CHP) daily Yurt, was imprisoned on December 20 after failing to pay 31,500 Turkish lira (US$5,974) in three unpaid fines over charges of insult, the news website Artı Gerçek reported.

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President Erdoğan addresses supporters in Trabzon on August 12. A journalism student in the city is detained on accusations of insulting the president in an article. (Presidential Press Service pool via AP)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 6, 2018

Anti-state charges for 5 journalists Five journalists from the opposition daily Sözcü were indicted for “willingly and knowingly helping a [terrorist] organization without being in its hierarchical structure,” BBC Turkey reported on December 10. Chief editor Metin Yılmaz, online chief editor Mustafa Çetin, online news coordinator Yücel Arı, and columnists Emin Çölaşan and Necati Doğru…

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Turkish journalist Can Dündar, pictured at a press conference in Berlin in September. Turkey has issued a new arrest warrant for the former chief editor. (AFP/David Gannon)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 2

Journalists in court A Diyarbakır Court on December 5 ordered Rojhat Doğru, a journalist formerly with the northern Iraq outlet Gali Kurdistan TV, to be detained pending investigation, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported. According to the report, Doğru was taken into custody in Istanbul on the accusation of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization,”…

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Shoppers are pictured at the Golden Horn in Istanbul's Eminonu district in November 2018. An appeals court in the city has upheld sentences for five journalists who took part in the Özgür Gündem solidarity campaign. (AFP/Ozan Kose)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week beginning November 25, 2018

Court upholds Özgür Gündem sentences A local appeals court in Istanbul on November 29 upheld the earlier prison sentences handed to five of the participants of a solidarity campaign with the daily Özgür Gündem, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported.

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Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, pictured at a press conference in Ankara in August 2018. A Turkish newspaper is accused of insulting the minister through its reporting. (AFP/Adem Altan)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of November 8, 2018

Court sentences former Zaman journalist A court in Uşak on November 14 convicted Ali Ünal, a former columnist for the shuttered daily Zaman, of “founding and leading an armed terrorist organization” and sentenced him to 19 years and six months in prison, the news website Diken reported. The court acquitted the journalist of coup-related charges,…

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Binali Yıldırım, pictured giving a speech at Turkey's Grand Assembly in March 2018. A court ordered the daily Evrensel to pay damages to the former prime minister over its caricature of him. (AFP/Adem Altan)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of November 1, 2018

Journalists in court An Istanbul court on November 5 convicted Yasir Kaya, a sports journalist formerly with Fenerbahçe TV or FBTV, of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization” and sentenced him to six years and three months in prison, according to reports. Kaya remained free pending appeal, according to the report. CPJ previously documented…

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A view of Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge, taken in August 2018. A Turkish court this week ordered the chief editor of Çağdaş Ses to be detained pending the outcome of her trial. (AFP/Ozan Kose)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 26, 2018

Journalist freed pending trial An Istanbul court on October 31, ordered Ali Sönmez Kayar, a reporter for the socialist Etkin News Agency (ETHA), to be freed pending trial, the independent news website Bianet reported. Kayar, who is charged with “being a member of a [terrorist] organization,” was released under judicial control and is under a…

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses members of Turkey's parliament in Ankara on October 16, 2018. A court convicted three journalists of insulting the president in the pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem. (AFP/Adem Altan)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 18

Court sentences journalists over Özgür Gündem campaignAn Istanbul court on October 24 sentenced three journalists to jail for “insulting the president” in the now shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem, the daily Evrensel reported.

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The path(s) to justice in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder

In an emotional address to Turkey’s parliament today, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a savage and premeditated act and demanded that Saudi officials be brought to Turkey to stand trial. Most of the information about the investigation that has emerged has come through leaks to the Turkish…

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Exiled journalist Can Dündar holds up a list of journalists jailed in Turkey, during a September 28 press conference in Berlin. Prosecutors have asked for Interpol to issue a warrant for Dündar's arrest. (AFP/David Gannon)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 11

Journalists in court An Istanbul court on October 16 asked Interpol to issue a “red notice” warrant for the exiled journalists Can Dündar and İlhan Tanır, according to reports. Dündar and Tanır were defendants in the trial against the opposition daily Cumhuriyet, until their cases were separated from the main trial on April 25, when…

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2018