Police in the southeastern Turkish town of Şırnak on November 21, 2016, detained Aysel Işık, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Jin News Agency (JİNHA), which is staffed entirely by women, her employer reported. The same day a court ordered her held pending trial on charges of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization”-the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which the Turkish government classes as a terrorist organization-in her posts to social media websites, JİNHA reported on its website.
Turkish authorities have long pursued JİNHA journalists for their reporting, and on October 31, 2016, ordered the news agency closed by decree, using emergency powers the government granted itself after a July 2016 failed military coup. The news agency’s website was still operational in late 2016.
Işık was in Şırnak’s Yeni Mahalle neighborhood when she was detained, according to JİNHA’s website. She was taken to the Şırnak police station. CPJ was unable to determine her location or identify her legal representation as of late 2016.