Ahmet Turan Alkan Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets supporters in Ankara, Turkey, on June 25, 2018. A Turkish court handed heavy sentences to six journalists on July 6. (Reuters/Umit Bektas)

Turkish court hands heavy sentences to Zaman journalists

July 6, 2018 3:38 PM EDT

New York, July 6, 2018–Turkish authorities should drop all charges against six journalists who worked for the now-shuttered Zaman daily newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The journalists were found guilty today by a court in Istanbul and handed heavy prison sentences, BBC Türkçe and the daily Cumhuriyet reported.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan listens via an interpreter as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a joint press conference in London on May 15, 2018. During the press conference Erdogan said that Turkey's jailed journalists are not, in fact, journalists, according to reports. (AFP/Matt Dunham)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 14, 2018

May 17, 2018 3:40 PM EDT

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 and activists march for press freedom in Ankara, March 19, 2011. (Reuters/Umit Bektas)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 4

December 5, 2016 9:57 AM EST

Wire reporter released pending conclusion of trial Mardin’s Second Court for Serious Crimes today released Zehra Doğan, a reporter for the shuttered news agency JİNHA, pending the conclusion of her trial, which began today, the pro-Kurdish Dihaber news agency reported. Police detained Doğan on July 22, and a court arraigned her on terrorism charges on…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan leaves a press conference in Ankara, July 20, 2016 (Reuters/Umit Bektas)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 31

August 1, 2016 11:42 AM EDT

Court indicts 12 media workers on terrorism charges An Istanbul court last night indicted 12 journalists on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization — the Hizmet movement, which the Turkish government classes as a terrorist group and alleges orchestrated a failed military coup on July 15 – Turkey’s official Anatolia news agency…

Turkey detains at least 48 journalists in one week

July 29, 2016 1:22 PM EDT

New York, July 29, 2016–Turkish authorities should release and drop all charges against 48 journalists police have detained in the last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police have detained at least 48 journalists in the past week as part of a sweeping purge of the media, according to local press reports.

In this July 24, 2016, handout photo, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gives the Rabaa salute, a reference to Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawaya Square, where Egyptian soldiers and police in August 2013 killed hundreds of supporters of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi protesting the military's ousting of the Egyptian president in July 2013. (Pool/AP)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 24

July 25, 2016 11:37 AM EDT

At least 48 journalists detained in one week Police in Turkey detained at least 48 journalists in the past week, according to the independent news website P24 and the Twitter account of Ben Gazeteciyim, a volunteer association of Turkish journalists formed to show solidarity with their threatened colleagues. At the time of publication, 21 of…