Turkey / Europe & Central Asia

  

Faces of impunity across the world

CPJ’s 2023 Global Impunity Index lists the top 12 countries where the murderers of journalists go free. But impunity knows no borders. The mosaic below shows the faces of slain journalists around the world. Beneath each journalist’s photo is the location of their death. Click the images for more details about these unsolved cases. (Photo grid by Geoff McGhee)

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Press freedom activists hold a candlelight vigil in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, D.C. to mark the first anniversary of the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Reuters/Sarah Silbiger)

Mahoney: Biden’s Saudi policy stymies quest for Khashoggi justice

From pariah to potential partner. That’s how far Saudi Arabia has come for President Joe Biden in the five years since Riyadh sent a death squad to butcher journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The administration’s ongoing rehabilitation of the petrodollar kingdom and its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MBS, seems to…

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CPJ joins call for Turkey to ensure safety of threatened journalist Alican Uludağ

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined five press freedom groups on Friday in a joint statement calling on the authorities in Turkey to ensure that journalist Alican Uludağ is safe, as he has been receiving online threats since he was publicly targeted by two politicians from the government-allied Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) because of his…

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Tipping the scales: Journalists’ lawyers face retaliation around the globe

The smears began the day Christian Ulate began representing jailed Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora: tweets accusing the lawyer of being a leftist or questioning his legal credentials. He began to fear he was being surveilled.  Ulate had taken over the case in August 2022 from two other lawyers, Romeo Montoya García and Mario Castañeda,…

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Turkey indicts 2 Kurdish journalists on terrorism charges

Istanbul, October 5, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Turkish authorities on Thursday to immediately release journalists Dicle Müftüoğlu and Sedat Yılmaz, who have been held in pretrial detention for more than five months, and to stop using terrorism legislation to criminalize journalists. Müftüoğlu and Yılmaz, both editors at the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency, were…

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Headshot of Turkish journalist İsmail Arı

Turkey urged to act on death threats against journalist İsmail Arı

Istanbul, September 29, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalist calls on Turkish authorities to respond to reporter İsmail Arı’s criminal complaints regarding the online threats he has been receiving. “Turkish authorities should stop turning a blind eye to reporter İsmail Arı’s criminal complaints about the online threats he is facing and take them seriously,” said Özgür…

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Sinan Aygül

Turkish journalist Sinan Aygül sentenced to 6 months in prison for trespassing

Istanbul, September 20, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the six-month sentence issued to Turkish journalist Sinan Aygül on Tuesday, in connection with his journalistic activity. “The people charged with the vicious assault that landed journalist Sinan Aygül in hospital in June were released on bail by a Turkish court last week. This week, Aygül…

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Turkish courts keep 2 reporters in pretrial detention, grant bail to bodyguards charged with attack on a journalist

Istanbul, September 15, 2023—Turkish authorities should not continue imprisoning journalists for their reporting while granting bail to those charged with assaulting them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Thursday, September 14, the 2nd Tatvan Court of Penal Peace granted bail to Yücel Baysali and Engin Kaplan, two bodyguards of the mayor of the…

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Gönültaş and Karakeçili

Turkish journalist Mehmet Karakeçili beaten, Hale Gönültaş threatened

Istanbul, September 7, 2023—Turkish authorities should ensure the safety of journalists Mehmet Karakeçili and Hale Gönültaş and hold to account those responsible for recent incidents involving the journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On the evening of August 29, Karakeçili, chief editor for the local news website Virantv in the southeastern city of…

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Turkish authorities again block Voice of America’s Turkish website

Istanbul, August 29, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to reverse their recent decision to block access to the Turkish-language website of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Voice of America. “Turkish authorities’ relentless attempts to control the flow of news and information in the country have led to yet another court order blocking…

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