Özgür Gündem

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Demonstrators hold placards and copies of the Cumhuriyet daily newspaper as they stage a protest outside a court where the trial of about a dozen employees of the newspaper on charges of aiding terror groups, continues in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. Most of them were released from prison earlier this month, but four of them, including editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu and investigative journalist Ahmet Sik, are still in prison.(AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 26, 2017

Journalists detained: Turkish police on November 1 briefly detained technology journalist Serdar Kuzuloğlu in Istanbul, the daily Hürriyet reported.

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People and soldiers visit the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk during a ceremony marking the 95th anniversary of Victory Day in Ankara, Turkey August 30, 2017. Turkish authorities on October 21 released three journalists who they detained last week during house raids that targeted leftist and pro-Kurdish media in Ankara. (Reuters/Umit Bektas)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 22, 2017

Two journalists held on terror charges An Istanbul court yesterday ordered two journalists from the socialist Etkin News Agency (ETHA) to be jailed pending trial, alongside 10 other people including politicians and lawyers, their employer reported today.

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Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 3, 2017

Columnist’s passport returned Turkish authorities on September 7 returned Aslı Erdoğan, a former advisory board member of the shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem and a frequent columnist, her passport, according to the Hürriyet Daily News website, which cites Erdoğan’s lawyer.

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A woman takes a selfie with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul, August 4, 2017. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 13, 2017

Court jails journalist pending trial for social media activity A court in Turkey’s southeastern Mardin province ordered Mehmet Sıddık Damar, a former reporter for the shuttered, pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), jailed pending trial on charges of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization” in his social media posts, the news website Dihaber reported today. Damar had…

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Journalists and press freedom advocates release balloons in front of the courthouse in Istanbul where 17 journalists and board members from Cumhuriyet newspaper were standing trial, July 24, 2017. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 23, 2017

Journalists to stand trial on charges of obtaining secret information Hatay’s Second Court of Penal Peace yesterday ordered Dihaber journalist Erdoğan Alayumat jailed pending trial on charges “obtaining secret information of the Republic of Turkey with the means of political and military espionage” and ordered Nuri Akman released on probation pending trial, their employer reported.…

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Konstantin Palace near St. Petersburg, Russia, October 9, 2016. (AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 14, 2017

Police search homes of opposition newspaper owner, staff Police searched the homes of the owner and three employees of the daily newspaper Sözcü, one of the last remaining large media outlets that opposes the government, the newspaper reported today.

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Willing Accomplice

Collusion by the Turkish media compounds the country’s crisis By Andrew Finkel Turkey’s bloody, failed military coup on July 15, 2016, and the ruthless crackdown that followed are testament to the country’s escalating crisis of democracy. Though the crisis had been developing for years, with journalists and independent media outlets facing intense legal pressures from…

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Abdullah Kılıç (Courtesy of Kılıç family)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 26, 2017

Istanbul court orders release, pending trial, of at least 19 journalists Istanbul’s 25th Court for Serious Crimes today ordered the release, pending trial, of at least 19 journalists imprisoned in direct relation for their work following the July 2016 failed military coup, according to news reports. The court did not drop any charges against the…

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A demonstrator walks around a bonfire to mark the spring festival of Newroz in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakır, March 21, 2016. Ethnic Kurds marked the occasion last year with a demonstration calling for the resumption of peace talks with the government. (Reuters/Sertac Kayar)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 19, 2017

Security forces detain reporter in southeastern Turkey Security forces in the southeastern province of Mardin today detained Dihaber reporter Murat Verim, the news agency reported. Dihaber said the arrest was part of an ongoing terrorism investigation.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses local government officials in Ankara, January 19, 2017. (Yasin Bulbul/Presidential Press Service/Pool via AP)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 12

Editor sentenced to nine years in prison The 7th Court for Serious Crimes in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakır yesterday sentenced Aydın Atar, former news editor for the shuttered Kurdish-language daily newspaper Azadiya Welat, to nine years, four months, and 15 days in prison on charges of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization,” the news…

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