A year after attempted coup in Turkey, media landscape purged of critical voices
The history of modern Turkish politics is rife with military intervention–the army has toppled elected governments four times since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded the modern Turkish state in 1923, and has strong-armed them into submission countless other times. One of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s greatest accomplishments has been returning the military to the barracks and…
Justice Denied: Ukraine comes up empty in probe of Pavel Sheremet’s murder
A year after prominent journalist Pavel Sheremet was killed by a car bomb in Kiev, no one has been arrested or prosecuted, even though Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko vowed a swift investigation. Authorities say Russia is the prime suspect, but the lack of progress in the case, coupled with evidence pointing to possible Ukrainian involvement,…
Justice denied:
Ukraine must prove its commitment to credibly investigating Sheremet’s murder Pavel Sheremet was a journalist of rare caliber, one whose reporting exemplified the best practices in the countries he covered: Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Despite threats and attacks during his career, Sheremet was not afraid to take on authorities. It was for this reason that…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 9, 2017
Police detain two journalists Police in the southern Turkish province of Hatay detained Erdoğan Alayumat and Nuri Akman, two correspondents for the pro-Kurdish news website Dihaber last night as they worked, their employer reported today. Police detained them on a complaint that they were “suspicious,” according to the report. A third individual, İsa Nuri Demir,…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 2, 2017
Turkish president tells German newspaper jailed correspondent is a terrorist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in an interview published yesterday, told the German newspaper Die Zeit that Die Welt Turkey correspondent, Turkish-German dual national Deniz Yücel, is a terrorist because he interviewed a leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist…
Kyrgyzstan holds three trials in one day against independent outlet
New York, June 29, 2017–Kyrgyzstan should drop all charges against the independent media organization ProMedia and its co-founder, Naryn Idinov, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A Bishkek district court held three separate hearings today into charges of insult made against ProMedia, which runs the independent online news agency Zanoza, and Idinov who edits…