Istanbul police obstruct, tear gas, shoot at reporters during May Day march in Turkey
Istanbul, May 2, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to refrain from targeting media workers present during demonstrations, ensure journalists can continue to report on matters of public interest safely, and hold those responsible for attacks to account. Amid bans on May Day celebrations, Istanbul police blocked a route in Istanbul’s Saraçhane…
Mass raid in Turkey jails 3 Kurdish reporters, others put under judicial control
Istanbul, April 29, 2024—Turkish authorities should release reporters Esra Solin Dal, Mehmet Aslan, and Erdoğan Alayumat and end the systematic harassment of Kurdish journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On April 23, Turkish authorities took nine people, who local media reported were all Kurdish journalists and media workers, into police custody after conducting…
CPJ, 21 other groups, call on social media firms to resist censorship ahead of Turkey elections
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 21 rights groups and journalists’ organizations on Monday in a joint statement calling on social media platforms to prioritize the free flow of information and ideas, and to resist government censorship ahead of the March 31 municipal elections in Turkey. “As important country-wide local elections loom, the Turkish authorities…
Turkey puts 5 journalists under house arrest or judicial control
Istanbul, February 16, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Turkish authorities to cancel the house arrests under electronic tagging and judicial controls placed on five journalists and to stop equating journalism with terrorism. On Tuesday, police raided the homes of five reporters and took them into custody in the western city of Izmir, according to news reports….
Killer of journalist Hrant Dink freed in Turkey amid widespread criticism
Istanbul, November 17, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Turkish authorities to heed the calls by the family of murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink for full justice, following the release of his killer from prison. In 2007, 17-year-old Ogün Samast assassinated Dink, the prominent managing editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, outside his newspaper’s…
In Turkey, 3 journalists detained for ‘disinformation,’ 1 jailed, 3 others under investigation
Istanbul, November 2, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Turkish authorities on Thursday to immediately release journalists Tolga Şardan and Cengiz Erdinç, drop “disinformation” charges against them, and overturn an order for editor Dinçer Gökçe to read and summarize books about his profession. In two separate cases on Wednesday, police in the Turkish capital of…
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…
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…
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…
Turkey suspends critical outlet TELE1 for a week
Istanbul, August 8, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned a court’s implementation of a seven-day suspension of critical online outlet and TV broadcaster TELE1 following an order by the official media watchdog the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK). “The court-imposed suspension of TELE1 due to an RTÜK order, along with the imprisonment of the outlet’s…