Nadire Mater

Two journalists arraigned, finance manager released A court in Istanbul arraigned Gökmen Ulu and Mediha Olgun, journalists for the secularist, nationalist daily Sözcü, one of the last remaining widely circulated newspapers to be consistently critical of the government, on charges of “committing a crime in the name of a [terrorist] organization without being a member,…

Erdoğan says jailed Die Welt correspondent ‘German agent,’ Kurdish separatist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 3 said that Deniz Yücel, the Turkey correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt and a dual citizen of Germany and Turkey jailed in Turkey since February 14, was a “German agent” and a member of the Kurdistan…

Publisher closes magazine for cartoon lampooning Moses The publisher of the cartoon magazine GırGır announced today that he was closing down the magazine after its publication of a cartoon depicting Moses irritating his followers wandering in the desert by talking too much and bragging about parting the Red Sea sparked outrage on social media, including…

Reporter arraigned on terrorism charges for Facebook posts The Mersin Court of Penal Peace last night arraigned Cemil Uğur, a reporter for the left-wing Evrensel newspaper, on charges of “being member of a [terrorist] organization,” and “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization,” his employer reported. Police held Uğur for 16 days in August, before a court…

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…

Columnist freed pending trial Istanbul’s 14th Court of Serious Crimes today ordered Cumhuriyet columnist Ahmet Nesin released, pending trial, the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem reported. Police on June 20 arrested Nesin, Erol Önderoğlu, Turkey representative for the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Şebnem Korur Fincancı, an academic, columnist and human rights…

With the aid of anachronistic legislation and a rigid judiciary, Turkish officials and politicians have curbed free expression by subjecting journalists to endless court proceedings and legal costs. The EU and the U.S. are no help. By Robert Mahoney >> Türkçe

Turkey is awash in media. The newsstands of Istanbul are buried under some 35 dailies of every format and political stripe. The airwaves are thick with TV channels and Internet penetration is tracking an economy growing at Chinese speed. Yet quantity does not equal quality. Nor does the array of titles mean diversity and freedom…