Turkish court sentences 8 Kurdish journalists to 6 years
Istanbul, July 3, 2024—Turkish authorities should not contest the appeals of eight journalists sentenced to six years and three months in prison on Wednesday and stop prosecuting journalists with baseless claims of terrorism, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. The 4th Ankara Court of Serious Crimes convicted eight journalists on charges of membership in…
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…
Turkish police hold 3 journalists for 3 days on suspicion of ‘financing terrorism’
Istanbul, March 1, 2024—Police raided the homes of three Kurdish journalists and detained them for three days in a February incident that appears to be part of an ongoing trend of systemic harassment by Turkish authorities. Several journalists working for pro-Kurdish outlets have been arrested over the past 12 months including journalists Dicle Müftüoğlu and…
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….
Turkish journalist Mahmut Altıntaş detained, says police beat him
Istanbul, February 1, 2024 – Turkish authorities must stop the country’s security forces from harassing the press and investigate accusations by Mahmut Altıntaş, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency, that police beat him in detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Police in the eastern province of Adıyaman took Altıntaş into custody…
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…
Turkish courts keep 2 reporters in pretrial detention, grant bail to bodyguards charged with attack on a journalist
Istanbul, September 15, 2023—Turkish authorities should not continue imprisoning journalists for their reporting while granting bail to those charged with assaulting them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Thursday, September 14, the 2nd Tatvan Court of Penal Peace granted bail to Yücel Baysali and Engin Kaplan, two bodyguards of the mayor of the…
Turkish authorities detain 5 journalists over tweet, 1 remains in custody
Istanbul, July 26, 2023—Turkish authorities should immediately release reporter Fırat Can Arslan and stop treating journalists like criminals, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, July 25, Turkish police detained Arslan, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency, at his house in the capital city of Ankara, in relation to an investigation…
Journalists attacked, critical outlets investigated in Turkey election aftermath
Istanbul, May 30, 2023–Turkish authorities should investigate multiple incidents of journalists being attacked or obstructed from reporting during the country’s recent election, and the media watchdog RTÜK should treat all outlets equally regardless of political stance, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. During the second round of presidential elections on Sunday, May 28, at…
Turkish courts find 4 journalists guilty on criminal charges ahead of elections
Istanbul, May 9, 2023—Turkish authorities should not contest the appeals of the four journalists recently sentenced by multiple courts because of their reporting or commentary and should ensure that the media is not threatened by judicial harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Since April 20, authorities have sentenced journalists Sinan Aygül, Bülent…