Turkey / Europe & Central Asia

Journalists sentenced An Istanbul court convicted in a retrial Hasan Cemal, a veteran journalist and a columnist for the news website T24, on charges of “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization,” and issued a suspended sentence of 18 months and 22 days, according to an April 3 report from the daily Cumhuriyet.

New York, April 2, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Turkish authorities to drop the politically motivated case against the exiled independent journalist Can Dündar, and allow him to do his work without fear of reprisal.

Pro-Kurdish newspaper seized A government-affiliated insurer and fund manager took over one of Turkey’s last remaining pro-Kurdish dailies, Özgürlükçü Düşünce, on March 28, and Istanbul police detained at least 27 of its staff members, according to news reports.

Istanbul, March 28, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the takeover today by a government-affiliated body of one of the last remaining pro-Kurdish national dailies and called for authorities to immediately release at least 10 media staff detained during the raid and to return the outlet to its rightful management.

Media sales Doğan Holding, one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates, on March 21 announced that it would sell its media assets to the pro-government Demirören Holding, according to news reports.

Supreme Court says Can Dündar should face retrial Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals on March 9 ruled that Can Dündar, former chief editor of the daily, Cumhuriyet, and Erdem Gül, the paper’s Ankara representative, should face a retrial on charges of “obtaining secret information with means of espionage,” Euronews reported.

Journalists sentenced An Istanbul court today sentenced at least 22 journalists to prison on terrorism-related charges, according to news reports.

Istanbul, March 8, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned a Turkish court’s decision today to sentence at least 22 journalists to prison on terrorism-related charges, and called on Turkish authorities to release them without delay.

Journalists sentenced An Istanbul court on February 28 sentenced Ahmet Altan, the former chief editor for the shuttered daily Taraf, to five years and 11 months in prison for “insulting the [Turkish] president,” and “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization,” the online newspaper Diken reported.