Turkey / Europe & Central Asia

  
Pedestrians walk by the latest work by the elusive British street artist Bansky along a wall in New York City on March 16, 2018. The work draws attention to the jailed Turkish artist Zehra Doguan.(AFP/ Getty Images/ Spencer Platt)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 19, 2018

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.

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CPJ calls on European Council and European Commission to raise press freedom with Turkey

CPJ calls on the presidents of the European Council and European Commission to request the release of Turkish journalists as a matter of priority during a scheduled meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Varna, Bulgari.

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Turkey's Supreme Court has ruled that Cumhuriyet journalist Can Dündar, pictured in Postdam in 2017, should face a retrial on espionage charges. (AFP/Steffi Loos)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 15, 2018

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.

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A couple check their mobile phone as they travel in a ferry in Istanbul, Turkey in April 2017. An Istanbul court on March 8, 2018, sentenced at least 22 journalists to prison on terrorism-related charges, according to news reports. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 5, 2018

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

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Morning mists over the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey in January 2018. A Turkish court on March 8, 2018, sentenced at least 22 journalists on terrorism-related charges, according to media reports. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

Turkey sentences at least 22 journalists on terrorism-related charges

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.

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People look at the Bosphorus as they travel in a ferry from the Asian to the European side of Istanbul on March 1, 2018. The Turkish government continues its crackdown on the media. (AFP/ Bulent Kilic)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 26, 2018

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.

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A passenger uses his smartphone as he waits for the train at a subway station in Istanbul, Turkey in June 2017. Turkey's parliament on February 21, 2018, approved an article of a bill that, if made into law, would give new censorship powers to state regulators. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

In Turkey, draft bill would give new censorship powers to state regulator

Istanbul, February 22, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to scrap the article of a draft bill that would expand internet censorship in Turkey. The Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission yesterday passed article 73 of the bill, which would require online broadcasters, including YouTube and Netflix Turkey, to be licensed and regulated…

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People take souvenir photos along the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey in February 2018. Turkey continues to crackdown on the press; a Turkish court sentenced four journalists to life without parole on February 16, 2018, on charges relating to their journalistic activity. (Reuters/Osman Orsal)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 19, 2018

Journalists acquitted, released Turkish authorities on February 17 released from jail Deniz Yücel, Turkey correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, who had been imprisoned for a year pending investigation, according to Reuters. A Turkish court on the same day also indicted Yücel on charges of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization” and “provoking the people…

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German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel walks after he was released from government detention on February 16, 2018. (Reuters/Huseyin Aldemir)

Turkey sentences 4 journalists to life in prison, releases and indicts another

Istanbul, February 16, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned a Turkish court’s decision to sentence four journalists to life in prison without parole, and called on Turkish authorities to release them without delay. In a separate case, Turkey must scrap charges against another journalist who was today released from custody but simultaneously indicted for terrorism…

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The flag-wrapped coffin of a Turkish soldier who was killed during the operation against Syria's Afrin region, is carried by guard of honor members during his funeral ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey in February 2018. Yusuf Ozan, a morning news host for the Islamist Akit TV channel, said journalists with the daily Cumhuriyet should be

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 12, 2018

Journalist released, said he was sexually abused in custody Turkish authorities on February 14 released from prison photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan after an Istanbul court decided he should be tried without arrest, the online newspaper Artı Gerçek reported.

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