Zaman

43 results arranged by date

Exiled Turkish journalist Ahmet Dönmez attacked in Sweden

New York, March 21, 2022 – Swedish authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the recent attack on journalist Ahmet Dönmez and determine if he was targeted for his work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday. On Saturday, March 19, in Stockholm, unidentified people hit Dönmez’s car from behind and, when…

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Turkish court sentences 5 journalists to prison over alleged role in 2016 coup

Istanbul, September 22, 2021 – Turkish authorities should not contest the appeals of five journalists recently sentenced to prison for their alleged involvement with a banned group, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the Second Antalya Court of Serious Crimes convicted Cihat Ünal, Ömer Özdemir, Serhat Şeftali, Olgun Matur, and Osman Yakut on…

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Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, pictured at a press conference in Ankara in August 2018. A Turkish newspaper is accused of insulting the minister through its reporting. (AFP/Adem Altan)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of November 8, 2018

Court sentences former Zaman journalist A court in Uşak on November 14 convicted Ali Ünal, a former columnist for the shuttered daily Zaman, of “founding and leading an armed terrorist organization” and sentenced him to 19 years and six months in prison, the news website Diken reported. The court acquitted the journalist of coup-related charges,…

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Binali Yıldırım, pictured giving a speech at Turkey's Grand Assembly in March 2018. A court ordered the daily Evrensel to pay damages to the former prime minister over its caricature of him. (AFP/Adem Altan)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of November 1, 2018

Journalists in court An Istanbul court on November 5 convicted Yasir Kaya, a sports journalist formerly with Fenerbahçe TV or FBTV, of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization” and sentenced him to six years and three months in prison, according to reports. Kaya remained free pending appeal, according to the report. CPJ previously documented…

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Mehmet Altan, pictured with his wife Umit Altan, after his release from prison in June. A court of appeals in October upheld a life sentence without patrol for Altan, his brother Ahmet, and fellow Turkish journalists Nazlı Ilıcak and Fevzi Yazıcı. (DHA-Depo Photos via AP)

Turkish court upholds life sentences without parole for four journalists

Istanbul, October 3, 2018–An Istanbul court of appeals yesterday upheld the sentences of life in prison without parole handed to four prominent Turkish journalists in February, media reported. Mehmet Altan, his brother Ahmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak, and Fevzi Yazıcı were convicted of having links to the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom Turkey accuses of being…

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How Turkey silences journalists online, one removal request at a time

On June 19, Abdülhamit Bilici, the last editor-in-chief of the now-shuttered Turkish paper Zaman, tweeted about the decline of press freedom in his home country. If you can see his tweet, you are probably not in Turkey because it is among the over 1.5 million tweets belonging to journalists and media outlets censored there under…

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets supporters in Ankara, Turkey, on June 25, 2018. A Turkish court handed heavy sentences to six journalists on July 6. (Reuters/Umit Bektas)

Turkish court hands heavy sentences to Zaman journalists

New York, July 6, 2018–Turkish authorities should drop all charges against six journalists who worked for the now-shuttered Zaman daily newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The journalists were found guilty today by a court in Istanbul and handed heavy prison sentences, BBC Türkçe and the daily Cumhuriyet reported.

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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan listens via an interpreter as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a joint press conference in London on May 15, 2018. During the press conference Erdogan said that Turkey's jailed journalists are not, in fact, journalists, according to reports. (AFP/Matt Dunham)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 14, 2018

Journalists imprisoned Turkish authorities in the western province of Edirne on May 11 transferred Kemal Sancılı, the publisher of the shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem, to Istanbul’s Silivri Prison, two days after he was detained on suspicion of terrorism-related activities, according to a report from the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency. —

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People stroll by the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey on April 20, 2018. Turkish authorities sentenced to prison 10 former Feza Media Group employees on terrorism-related charges on April 30, according to reports. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 30, 2018

Feza Media Group trial ends, defendants sentenced An Istanbul court on April 30 convicted 10 people affiliated with the shuttered Feza Media Group, best known as the publisher of the daily Zaman, on terrorism-related charges, CNNTurk and the media news website P24 reported. All of the defendants were acquitted on charges of “attempting to eliminate”…

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People take pictures in Istanbul with the Hagia Sophia in the background on April 21, 2018. An Istanbul court convicted 14 people affiliated with the daily Cumhuriyet on terrorism-related charges, the newspaper reported. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 23, 2018

Cumhuriyet trial ends, defendants sentenced An Istanbul court on April 25 convicted 14 people affiliated with the independent daily Cumhuriyet on terrorism-related charges, the newspaper reported. The court placed the journalists and newspaper staff on probation and banned them from traveling until the appeals process has ended, according to reports.

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