Turkey Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

In Turkey, 3 journalists detained for ‘disinformation,’ 1 jailed, 3 others under investigation

November 2, 2023 3:36 PM EDT

Istanbul, November 2, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Turkish authorities on Thursday to immediately release journalists Tolga Şardan and Cengiz Erdinç, drop “disinformation” charges against them, and overturn an order for editor Dinçer Gökçe to read and summarize books about his profession. In two separate cases on Wednesday, police in the Turkish capital of…

Assailant of Turkish journalist Can Dündar convicted over 2016 attack, but sentence delayed

July 15, 2021 2:17 PM EDT

On July 8, 2021, a Turkish court sentenced Murat Şahin, who attempted to shoot journalist Can Dündar in a 2016 incident in Istanbul that left journalist Yağız Şenkal injured, to a delayed prison term and monetary fine, according to news reports. The 28th Istanbul Court of First Instance found Şahin guilty of several charges, including…

Police detain camera operator Nazım Fayık while covering protest in Ankara, Turkey

July 14, 2021 4:23 PM EDT

On July 5, 2021, police disrupted a protest near a prison in Ankara, Turkey, and detained at least one journalist, according to news reports and video of the detention shared on social media. Police detained Nazım Fayık, a camera operator with the leftist pro-Kurdish website and TV broadcaster Artı Gerçek, along with five demonstrators at…

An explosion is seen over the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain on October 12, 2019. Turkish airstrikes near Ras al-Ain recently killed two journalists. (Reuters/Stoyan Nenov)

Second Syrian Kurdish journalist dies of wounds sustained in Turkish air strike

October 15, 2019 2:20 PM EDT

Beirut, October 15, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today strongly condemned the Turkish air strike on a civilian convoy, as reports emerged that a second journalist died yesterday as a result of the attack.

Smoke is seen billowing from the sites of air strikes in Ras al-Ayn, Syria, on October 13, 2019. Syrian Kurdish journalist Saad Ahmed was killed in an airstrike in the town. (AP/Emrah Gurel)

Syrian Kurdish journalist killed in Turkish airstrike on civilian convoy

October 13, 2019 6:15 PM EDT

Beirut, October 13, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the Turkish air strike on a civilian convoy that killed journalist Saad Ahmed and injured at least four other reporters.

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 5, 2019

May 9, 2019 5:48 PM EDT

Journalist sentenced to 10 months in prison An Istanbul court on May 7 sentenced Cansu Pişkin, a reporter for the leftist daily Evrensel, to 10 months in prison for “making a target of a civil servant for terrorist organizations,” the television news website Medyascope reported. The court suspended Pişkin’s sentence barring a repeated offense in…

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

May 24, 2018 4:45 PM EDT

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.

Boys stand on the edges of a vintage tram as it runs along the main shopping and pedestrian street of Istiklal in central Istanbul, Turkey in January 2018. Turkey continues to crackdown on media. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 16, 2018

April 19, 2018 5:51 PM EDT

Journalists in prison An Istanbul court on April 17 arraigned Adil Demirci, a Turkish-German dual national and reporter for the socialist Etkin News Agency (ETHA), on charges of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization” and “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization,” according to the German news agency Deutsche Welle. In the same case, the…

Morning mists over the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey in January 2018. A Turkish court on March 8, 2018, sentenced at least 22 journalists on terrorism-related charges, according to media reports. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

Turkey sentences at least 22 journalists on terrorism-related charges

March 8, 2018 4:42 PM EST

Istanbul, March 8, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned a Turkish court’s decision today to sentence at least 22 journalists to prison on terrorism-related charges, and called on Turkish authorities to release them without delay.

A passenger uses his smartphone as he waits for the train at a subway station in Istanbul, Turkey in June 2017. Turkey's parliament on February 21, 2018, approved an article of a bill that, if made into law, would give new censorship powers to state regulators. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

In Turkey, draft bill would give new censorship powers to state regulator

February 22, 2018 2:55 PM EST

Istanbul, February 22, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to scrap the article of a draft bill that would expand internet censorship in Turkey. The Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission yesterday passed article 73 of the bill, which would require online broadcasters, including YouTube and Netflix Turkey, to be licensed and regulated…