Turkey

2015

  

CPJ calls for the release of VICE News reporters, fixer, in Diyarbakir, Turkey

New York, August 28, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir to release British journalists Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury immediately. The journalists were on assignment with the U.S.-based global news channel VICE News when they, along with their fixer, were detained by police in Baglar district…

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Eighteen Turkish journalists face jail terms on terrorism allegations

Istanbul, August 6, 2015–Eighteen editors from nine outlets in Turkey have been accused of terrorism in connection with publishing a photograph, according to Turkish and international news reports.

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Turkish authorities block access to news websites

New York, July 28, 2015–Turkish authorities blocked access to at least eight news websites in Turkey on Saturday amid what the government called a counter-terrorism operation, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to restore access to the websites so that Turkish citizens can access news of public interest.

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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, left, looks at a cell phone during a meeting in 2013. Since Erdoğan became president there has been an increase in insult charges filed against Turkey's press. (AP/Abdeljalil Bounhar)

Erdoğan vs the press: Insult law used to silence president’s critics

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is known for being intolerant of critics. During his third term as prime minister, Turkey was the leading jailer of journalists in the world with more than 60 behind bars at the height of the crackdown in 2012. Most of those have been released, but the press faces another threat–Article 299…

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In Turkey, jailed journalist given new prison term as third investigation begins

Istanbul, July 1, 2015–Turkish journalist Mehmet Baransu was handed a 10-month jail sentence by an Istanbul court on June 30 for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Twitter, according to reports. Baransu, a columnist and correspondent for the privately owned daily Taraf, is already in prison while authorities investigate him on separate charges, his lawyer…

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Turkish journalist faces 23 years in prison for insulting government officials

Istanbul, June 26, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the insult charges filed against a Turkish reporter and calls on Turkish authorities to drop them immediately. The charges against Canan Coşkun, a reporter for the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, were first reported by the Turkish media on Wednesday.

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Turkish editor given suspended prison term for insulting Erdoğan on Twitter

New York, June 19, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a suspended prison term given to the editor of the English-language Turkish daily Today’s Zaman on Wednesday on charges of insulting then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a July 2014 tweet.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a rally on May 26, 2015. (AP/Burhan Ozbilici)

Erdoğan threatens Cumhuriyet, editor-in-chief over arms smuggling report

Istanbul, June 1, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s legal threats against pro-opposition daily newspaper Cumhuriyet and Can Dündar, its editor-in-chief, whom the president accused of espionage during a live broadcast Sunday night on state-run television.

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A journalist holds a placard at the headquarters of Zaman daily newspaper in Istanbul on December 14, 2014. Turkish police raided media outlets close to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, including Zaman, and detained 23 people.  (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Finding new ways to censor journalists in Turkey

The flood was foretold, and seemed inevitable. Even I, with my limited resources as a journalist and media monitor, raised the alarm years ago.

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Fréderike Geerdink outside a Turkish court on April 8. At the opening of her trial, a prosecutor who recently took over the case, called for the Dutch freelance journalist to be acquitted of spreading terrorist propaganda. (AFP/Ilyas Akengin)

In Turkey, photographer denied entry and freelance journalist goes on trial

Istanbul, April 8, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to improve conditions for international reporters after news reports said German freelance photographer Andy Spyra, who flew to Istanbul to cover the anniversary of the Armenian massacre, was denied entry to the country. Separately, the trial of Dutch freelance journalist Fréderike Geerdink, who…

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2015