Kurdistan Workers Party Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers are seen in Erbil, Iraq, on July 9, 2019. Peshmerga forces recently detained journalist Zuber Bradosti. (Reuters/Ako Rasheed)

Kurdish military forces detain journalist in Iraqi Kurdistan

July 29, 2019 1:15 PM EDT

Beirut, July 29, 2019 — Kurdish Peshmerga forces should immediately disclose any charges against journalist Zuber Bradosti or else release him from custody, the Committee to Protect Journalist said today.

People exit from the international arrivals terminal at the new Istanbul Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 16, 2019. Two documentary filmmakers were sentenced to four and a half years in prison on July 18. (Reuters/Marius Bosch)

Turkish court sentences documentary filmmakers to 4 and a half years

July 19, 2019 3:07 PM EDT

Istanbul, July 19, 2019–Documentary filmmakers Ertuğrul Mavioğlu and Çayan Demirel, directors of the 2015 documentary movie “Bakur” (“North”), about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), were sentenced to four years and six months in prison yesterday for “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization” by a court in the southeastern city of Batman, according to news…

Boys stand on the edges of a vintage tram as it runs along the main shopping and pedestrian street of Istiklal in central Istanbul, Turkey in January 2018. Turkey continues to crackdown on media. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 16, 2018

April 19, 2018 5:51 PM EDT

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…

People relax near Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey on April 4, 2018. An Istanbul court convicted in a retrial Hasan Cemal, a veteran journalist and a columnist for the news website T24, on charges of "making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization," according to news reports. (Reuters/Osman Orsal)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 2, 2018

April 5, 2018 4:54 PM EDT

Journalists sentenced An Istanbul court convicted in a retrial Hasan Cemal, a veteran journalist and a columnist for the news website T24, on charges of “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization,” and issued a suspended sentence of 18 months and 22 days, according to an April 3 report from the daily Cumhuriyet.

In Turkey, VICE News journalist behind bars, freelance journalist detained

September 8, 2015 3:34 PM EDT

New York, September 8, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the ongoing detention of a VICE News journalist and the detention on Sunday of a Dutch freelance reporter.

Turkey frees 2 VICE News reporters but third remains in custody

September 3, 2015 12:32 PM EDT

New York, September 3, 2015–A Turkish court early today ordered the release of VICE News’ British journalists Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, according to their outlet. A third journalist, Mohammed Ismael Rasool, an Iraqi who is based in Turkey, is still in custody and is being questioned by Turkish authorities, according to news reports. The…

Turkey should drop terrorism charges against detained VICE crew

September 1, 2015 1:52 PM EDT

Dear Prime Minister Davutoğlu: The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent international press freedom organization, is writing to express its concern about recent charges leveled against two British journalists and a local fixer who were detained while reporting from the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir.

CPJ calls for the release of VICE News reporters, fixer, in Diyarbakir, Turkey

August 28, 2015 3:14 PM EDT

New York, August 28, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir to release British journalists Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury immediately. The journalists were on assignment with the U.S.-based global news channel VICE News when they, along with their fixer, were detained by police in Baglar district…

Eighteen Turkish journalists face jail terms on terrorism allegations

August 6, 2015 2:50 PM EDT

Istanbul, August 6, 2015–Eighteen editors from nine outlets in Turkey have been accused of terrorism in connection with publishing a photograph, according to Turkish and international news reports.

Turkish authorities block access to news websites

July 28, 2015 2:24 PM EDT

New York, July 28, 2015–Turkish authorities blocked access to at least eight news websites in Turkey on Saturday amid what the government called a counter-terrorism operation, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to restore access to the websites so that Turkish citizens can access news of public interest.