Ahmet Altan

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…

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…

Court rules journalists should be released, but they remain in custody Turkey’s Constitutional Court on January 11 ruled that local courts should release from pre-trial detention Şahin Alpay, a former columnist for the shuttered daily Zaman, and Mehmet Altan, a former host for the shuttered Can Erzincan TV and columnist for the shuttered daily Özgür…

Journalists released A Turkish court on November 9 released from prison Mehmet Çağrı, chief editor for the local radio station Dersim Munzur, during his first trial hearing in the southeastern city of Tunceli, which is also known as by the Kurdish name of Dersim, the daily Evrensel reported.

BBC reporter refused entry Police at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport yesterday detained BBC reporter Jiyar Gol for five hours before putting him on a plane out of the country, the journalist wrote on Twitter. The journalist tweeted that he believes he was not allowed in the country because of his reporting for the BBC. [June 30,…

Shots fired at newspaper office, no one injured An unknown assailant in a moving taxi fired two shots from a handgun at the building housing the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet in Istanbul this morning, Cumhuriyet reported. A police investigation is in progress, the report said.

Eid holiday leaves detained writers in legal limbo, lawyers say Veysel Ok and Ergin Cinmen, lawyers for Mehmet and Ahmet Altan, two prominent writers detained four days ago, yesterday made a joint statement saying that because of the Eid holiday they could not find the responsible prosecutor or a court in which to appeal their…

Government revokes press credentials for 115 journalists Turkey’s General Directorate for Press, Broadcasting, and Information (BYEGM, by its Turkish acronym) — the bureau within the prime minister’s office responsible for accrediting journalists — today revoked the credentials of 115 journalists, Turkey’s official Anatolia News Agency reported. The government alleged the journalists were affiliated with the…

Provincial officials ask journalists to submit to prior censorship: report Top officials in southeastern Turkey’s Gaziantep province, near the Syrian border, on June 1 convened local journalists to ask them not to report on “the bad things happening in the city,” and to submit their stories to a group on the messaging service WhatsApp which…