Turkey / Europe & Central Asia

  
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks at the G20 summit in Gangzhou, China, September 5, 2016. (Reuters/Damir Salgoj)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 18

Taraf chief editor detained hours after release Hours after his release from prison, the writer and journalist Ahmet Altan was detained again. Altan turned himself in late last night and was arrested after hearing that he was wanted by authorities, according to reports. According to a report in the daily, Hürriyet, the prosecution objected to…

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Turkish journalist Can Dündar and his wife, Dilek, who had her passport confiscated in September. (Reuters/Osman Orsal)

CPJ testifies on Turkey’s press freedom record after failed coup attempt

CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova today testified before the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats Subcommittee of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, at the hearing, “Turkey after the July Coup Attempt.”

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In this October 11, 1999, file photo, Turkish writers (left to right) Orhan Pamuk, Ahmet Altan, and Yasher Kemal hold a news conference to urge a peaceful resolution to the conflict with Kurdish separatists. Police detained Altan and his brother, Mehmet, on September 10, 2016. (Reuters)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 11

Eid holiday leaves detained writers in legal limbo, lawyers say Veysel Ok and Ergin Cinmen, lawyers for Mehmet and Ahmet Altan, two prominent writers detained four days ago, yesterday made a joint statement saying that because of the Eid holiday they could not find the responsible prosecutor or a court in which to appeal their…

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan adjusts his earpiece at the conclusion of the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, September 5, 2016. (Reuters/Damir Sagolj)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 4

Police raid Kurdish magazine office Police raided Istanbul office of the pro-Kurdish magazine Özgür Halk today, the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reported. DİHA reported that the raid, which was in progress at the time of publication, was related to the magazine’s feature commemorating August 15, the date the banned Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) took…

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Award-winning editor’s wife banned from leaving Turkey, passport confiscated

New York, September 3, 2016–Turkish authorities should cease preventing Dilek Dündar, wife of exiled Turkish journalist Can Dündar, from leaving the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Can Dündar told CPJ that security officers at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport this morning confiscated his wife’s passport and prevented her from boarding a plane to Europe,…

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Freelance journalist Lindsey Snell detained in Turkey after leaving Syria

New York, September 1, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Turkish authorities today to release Lindsey Snell, an American freelance journalist who has been detained since August 7 after traveling to Turkey from Syria, where she said she had been filming.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses supporters in Istanbul, August 7, 2016. (AFP/Ozan Kose)

Turkish prosecutors issue 35 arrest warrants for journalists

New York, August 30, 2016 — Turkish prosecutors should cancel orders for the detention of 35 journalists, and authorities should unconditionally release all journalists already jailed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police today detained at least nine of the journalists on the list, according to press reports.

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In this October 2008 file photo, opposition lawmakers hold copies of Azadiya Welat newspaper during a meeting of the parliament to protest a month-long ban on the publication. (Umit Bektas/Reuters)

Turkish police raid newspaper office, detain at least 23 employees

New York, August 29, 2016–Turkish authorities should immediately release 23 employees of the Kurdish-language daily newspaper Azadiya Welat detained yesterday in a police raid of the newspaper’s office, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses supporters in Istanbul, August 7, 2016. (AFP/Ozan Kose)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 28

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…

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Demonstrators in central Istanbul protest the detention of three people on charges arising from their participation in a show of solidarity with pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem, June 21, 2016. Police on August 16 raided the newspaper's offices and detained at least 21 journalists following a court order temporarily shuttering the newspaper. (AFP/Ozan Kose)

Turkish court arraigns newspaper editors, columnist on terrorism charges

New York, August 23, 2016 – Turkish authorities should immediately drop all charges against two newspaper editors and a columnist jailed on terrorism charges and release them without delay, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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