Turkey / Europe & Central Asia

Ahead of June 24 presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey, the Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 18 other international press freedom and freedom of expression organizations in calling on to the future leader of Turkey to prioritize press freedom and safety of journalists in the country.

Journalist arrested A court on June 11 ordered Berzan Güneş, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency, to be arrested pending trial, his employer reported. The indictment accused Güneş of “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organisation” and presented as evidence the journalist’s social media posts, going back to 2014, according to the report. The…

Cartoonist arrested for “insulting the president,” paroled Turkish authorities on June 5 released on parole Nuri Kurtcebe, a veteran political cartoonist, who was sent to prison on June 3 after a high court rejected his appeal, according to the daily Evrensel and Kurtcebe’s lawyer, Erdem Akyüz, who spoke to the news website OdaTV.

Journalist detained Istanbul police on May 28 detained an editor for the leftist news website Sendika, Ali Ergin Demirhan, at the website’s office on suspicion of “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization,” in relation to the journalist’s work, his employer reported.

Turkey will continue to block Wikipedia During a May 18 press conference, Turkish Transportation, Maritime Affairs, and Communication Minister Ahmet Arslan said that Wikipedia will remain blocked in the country because the website portrays Turkey as a supporter of the Islamic State militant group, the daily Cumhuriyet reported.

Journalists imprisoned Turkish authorities in the western province of Edirne on May 11 transferred Kemal Sancılı, the publisher of the shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem, to Istanbul’s Silivri Prison, two days after he was detained on suspicion of terrorism-related activities, according to a report from the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency. —

Journalists arrested On May 3, authorities in the southern city of Mersin transferred İsmail Çoban, former news editor for the shuttered Kurdish language daily Azadiya Welat, to the southeastern city of Diyarbakır, where he will remain in custody pending trial, according to reports.

Feza Media Group trial ends, defendants sentenced An Istanbul court on April 30 convicted 10 people affiliated with the shuttered Feza Media Group, best known as the publisher of the daily Zaman, on terrorism-related charges, CNNTurk and the media news website P24 reported. All of the defendants were acquitted on charges of “attempting to eliminate”…

Cumhuriyet trial ends, defendants sentenced An Istanbul court on April 25 convicted 14 people affiliated with the independent daily Cumhuriyet on terrorism-related charges, the newspaper reported. The court placed the journalists and newspaper staff on probation and banned them from traveling until the appeals process has ended, according to reports.

Journalists in prison An Istanbul court on April 17 arraigned Adil Demirci, a Turkish-German dual national and reporter for the socialist Etkin News Agency (ETHA), on charges of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization” and “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization,” according to the German news agency Deutsche Welle. In the same case, the…