Özgürlükçü Demokrasi

23 results arranged by date

Protesters hold up copies of the pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem during a rally in Istanbul in June 2016. Turkish courts will proceed with 14 cases against a former publisher of the now shuttered newspaper. (AFP/Oan Kose)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 7, 2019

14 trials in one week for Özgür Gündem publisher Over the course of one week, Turkish courts agreed to proceed with 14 cases involving Ziya Çiçekçi, a former publisher of the shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem, the Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) reported. All but one of the cases involve accusations of “making propaganda for a…

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The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The court has ruled in favor of a pro-Kurdish journalist persecuted by Turkish authorities. (AFP/Frederick Florin)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 10, 2019

Court convicts Gün Printing House owner and staff An Istanbul court on March 11 convicted seven employees of the Gün Printing House, including the owner, Kasım Zengin, of anti-state charges and sentenced them to prison, the pro-Kurdish Mezopatamya News Agency reported. The court acquitted 15 other employees who were also on trial.

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Turkey's Vice President Fuat Oktay, pictured in Ankara in July 2018. Oktay said during parliamentary questions that authorities have revoked nearly 2,000 press credentials in the past three years (AP/Burhan Ozbilici)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 16, 2018

Journalist jailed over unpaid fines Hakan Gülseven, a journalist who used to work for the pro-opposition (CHP) daily Yurt, was imprisoned on December 20 after failing to pay 31,500 Turkish lira (US$5,974) in three unpaid fines over charges of insult, the news website Artı Gerçek reported.

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Turkish journalist Can Dündar, pictured at a press conference in Berlin in September. Turkey has issued a new arrest warrant for the former chief editor. (AFP/David Gannon)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 2

Journalists in court A Diyarbakır Court on December 5 ordered Rojhat Doğru, a journalist formerly with the northern Iraq outlet Gali Kurdistan TV, to be detained pending investigation, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported. According to the report, Doğru was taken into custody in Istanbul on the accusation of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization,”…

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey on July 9, 2018. Turkey's National Security Council, chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on July 8 shuttered three newspapers under a new decree passed the same day, according to reports. (Reuters/Umit Bekta)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 9, 2018

Journalist released Authorities in the eastern city of Elazığ on July 9 released from custody journalist Şerife Oruç, who is on trial for terrorism-related charges, the news website Gazete Karınca reported. Her trial is ongoing.

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Children wave the Turkish flag outside the mausoleum of the founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in Ankara on April 23, 2018. A Turkish government minister in December 2017 said that Turkey blocked Wikipedia because it insults Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, according to reports. (AFP/Adem Altan)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 21, 2018

Turkey will continue to block Wikipedia During a May 18 press conference, Turkish Transportation, Maritime Affairs, and Communication Minister Ahmet Arslan said that Wikipedia will remain blocked in the country because the website portrays Turkey as a supporter of the Islamic State militant group, the daily Cumhuriyet reported.

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Skyscrapers at the business and financial districts are seen from the old city in Istanbul, Turkey August 22, 2017. Turkey has continued its crackdown on the media. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 9, 2018

Journalists Imprisoned An Istanbul court on April 6 arraigned İhsan Yaşar and İhsak Kabul, the publisher and responsible news editor respectively for the recently seized pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgürlükçü Demokrasi, on charges of “being members of a [terrorist] organization” and “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization,” the daily Evrensel reported.

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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

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.

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Pedestrians walk along Istiklal Street, in central Istanbul, in 2016. Police on March 28 raided the pro-Kurdish daily Özgürlükçü Demokrasi, based in the district. (AFP/Yasin Akgul)

Turkish authorities seize control of pro-Kurdish national daily

Istanbul, March 28, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the takeover today by a government-affiliated body of one of the last remaining pro-Kurdish national dailies and called for authorities to immediately release at least 10 media staff detained during the raid and to return the outlet to its rightful management.

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People take souvenir photos along the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey in February 2018. Turkey continues to crackdown on the press; a Turkish court sentenced four journalists to life without parole on February 16, 2018, on charges relating to their journalistic activity. (Reuters/Osman Orsal)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 19, 2018

Journalists acquitted, released Turkish authorities on February 17 released from jail Deniz Yücel, Turkey correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, who had been imprisoned for a year pending investigation, according to Reuters. A Turkish court on the same day also indicted Yücel on charges of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization” and “provoking the people…

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