Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 23
EU Parliament urges Turkey to release journalists The European Parliament urged Turkey to release all journalists jailed without proof of their alleged involvement in the failed July 15 military coup, Hürriyet Daily News reported, based on the text of the resolution.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 4
Police raid Kurdish magazine office Police raided Istanbul office of the pro-Kurdish magazine Özgür Halk today, the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reported. DİHA reported that the raid, which was in progress at the time of publication, was related to the magazine’s feature commemorating August 15, the date the banned Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) took…
Turkish police raid newspaper office, detain at least 23 employees
New York, August 29, 2016–Turkish authorities should immediately release 23 employees of the Kurdish-language daily newspaper Azadiya Welat detained yesterday in a police raid of the newspaper’s office, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 28
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…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 21
Kurdish wire reporter, newspaper employee arraigned on terrorism charges A court in Turkey’s eastern Van Province today arraigned Erdem Mühirci, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), and ordered him jailed, pending trial, on charges of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization” and “recruiting members for a [terrorist] organization,” DİHA reported. Mühirci…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 31
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 Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 24
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…
Journalist trapped and injured while reporting in besieged Turkish town dies
New York, February 24, 2016–A news editor for the Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat, who had been trapped with a gunshot wound in Cizre since January 22, has died. Authorities used DNA testing to identify the remains of Rohat Aktaş, local reports said today. The exact circumstances of his death are unclear. Pro-opposition and pro-Kurdish media…
CPJ concerned for safety of injured journalist trapped in Turkish city
New York, February 4, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned for the safety of Rohat Aktaş, a news editor and reporter for the Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat, who has been trapped in the southeastern town of Cizre with a gunshot wound since January 22.