Istanbul, Turkey, July 23, 1999–The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a report today documenting Turkey’s continuing use of criminal prosecutions to silence journalists who report on sensitive topics, such as the Kurdish question and the role of Islam in politics. At a press conference in Istanbul, a CPJ delegation expressed its concern…
May 5, 1999 His Excellency Selcuk Oztek Minister of Justice Adalet Bakanligi 06659 Ankara, Turkey Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply dismayed by yesterday’s verdict in the retrial of 11 police officers accused in the January 1996 murder of Metin Goktepe, a journalist with the leftist daily Evrensel. The Afyon court’s decision…
May 5, 1999 His Excellency Selcuk Oztek Minister of Justice Adalet Bakanligi 06659 Ankara, Turkey Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply dismayed by yesterday’s verdict in the retrial of 11 police officers accused in the January 1996 murder of Metin Goktepe, a journalist with the leftist daily Evrensel. The Afyon court’s decision…
(On June 10-after this article had been completed-Andrew Finkel was summoned by an Instanbul Criminal Court to answer charges that he had insulted the Turkish military — a crime under article 159 of the Turkish penal code. The charges stem from a story published in February 1998 in the daily Sabah, in which Finkel reported on…
Ozgur Bakis, June 3, 1999 Full support for Ocalan The PKK supports its leader Ocalan’s proposal for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, made during his ongoing trial at the island of Imrali. The PKK Executive Council announced that it was prepared to do everything necessary for the success of Ocalan’s efforts for a…
May 19,1999 His Excellency Bulent Ecevit Prime Minister Basbakanlik 06573 Ankara, Turkey Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the criminal conviction of journalist Oral Calislar, a columnist for the daily Cumhurriyet. On May 18, Calislar was convicted of disseminating “separatist propaganda” under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law and sentenced to…
Washington, D.C., March 25 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported today in its annual worldwide study of press freedom that at least 118 journalists were in prison in 25 countries at the end of 1998, and 24 journalists in 17 countries were murdered during the year in reprisal for their reporting.