Editor's ChoiceMedia FreedomTurkey

Journalists in State of Emergency – 122

Çetin Kurşun, a reporter for the shuttered newspaper Azadiya Welat, jailed pending trial, bringing number of imprisoned journalists in Turkey to 155

Advertisement
Advertisement

Çetin Kurşun, a reporter for the shuttered Kurdish-language newspaper Azadiya Welat, was imprisoned pending trial on February 21, 2018, on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member.”

Kurşun was taken into custody on February 6 along with his brother, Sedat, during a police raid on their house in the Kızıltepe district of the Mardin province.

On February 20, the Kurşun brothers gave their statements before the prosecutor, who referred the brothers to the night court, requesting their arrest. The court released Sedat Kurşun while it jailed the journalist Çetin Kurşun pending trial.

Kurşun was sent to the Mardin Prison.

Final defense statements begin in “FETÖ media” trial 

The 25th High Criminal Court of Istanbul on February 22, 2018, started hearing the final defense statements at the latest hearing of the case publicly known as the “FETÖ media trial.”

Twenty-nine journalists, including former T24 columnist Murat Aksoy and former singer and newspaper columnist Atilla Taş, are standing trial on “membership in a terrorist organization” in the case. Nineteen of the defendants are in pretrial detention.

Final defense statements of eight defendants, Abdullah Kılıç, Ali Akkuş, Atilla Taş, Bünyamin Köseli, Bayram Kaya, Ahmet Memiş, Muhammet Sait Kuloğlu and Davut Aydın, who gave his statement via his lawyer, were heard on February 22, during the first session of the hearing, monitored in the courtroom by P24.

The court ruled at the end of Thursday’s hearing that imprisoned defendant Emre Soncan’s file is separated from this case to be merged with a newly initiated case against him.

The hearing will continue with the second session on February 23.

Former MAZLUMDER president sentenced to 2.5 years in prison 

Human rights defender and journalist Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, the former president of the Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for the Oppressed (MAZLUMDER), was sentenced to two years and six months in prison on February 21, 2018, for one of his posts on social media.

The charges against Gergerlioğlu involved “praising the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK)” in his social media posts and articles he wrote for various news websites.

The 2nd High Criminal Court of Kocaeli convicted Gergerlioğlu, who is also a contributor to the online news outlet Artı Gerçek, of “conducting propaganda for a terrorist organization” via his social media account.

Gergerlioğlu said his lawyers will appeal the verdict.

2 newspaper distributors detained in Van

Şükran Erdem and Mizgin Fendik, two employees for the pro-Kurdish newspapers Welat and Özgürlükçü Demokrasi, were taken into custody on February 22, 2018 in the eastern province of Van.

Both Erdem and Fendik were taken into custody during morning hours by police as they were distributing the newspapers to subscribers. Neither the police station to which the two distributors were taken nor the grounds for detention have been disclosed.

Prosecutor appeals verdict on CHP lawmaker Berberoğlu

An Istanbul prosecutor on February 22 appealed the prison sentence handed down on February 13, 2018, to main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Enis Berberoğlu, saying the lawmaker should have been found guilty on “espionage” charges rather than “disclosing government secrets.”

Berberoğlu was sentenced to a reduced term of five years and 10 months in jail on February 13 by an appellate court, which convicted Berberoğlu of disclosing government secrets, at the conclusion of his retrial in the so-called “MIT [National Intelligence Agency] trucks case.”

Berberoğlu, a former journalist, was initially given a 25-year sentence in June for his alleged role in the publication of a news report in Cumhuriyet newspaper, which suggested that the Turkish government might have sent weapons to armed groups in Syria on trucks operated by MİT. But the Second Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Law, an appellate court, overturned the verdict and ordered the retrial of Berberoğlu.

Berberoğlu’s lawyers said they would appeal the February 13 verdict. Berberoğlu is currently in the Maltepe Prison in Istanbul because of this conviction.

Journalists in prison in Turkey (as of February 22, 2018)

Çetin Kurşun’s imprisonment pending trial on February 21 has brought the number of jailed journalists in Turkey to 155. For the full list, click here.

1          Abdulkadir Turay, DİHA reporter
2          Abdullah Kaya, DİHA
3          Abdullah Kılıç, Habertürk
4          Abdullah Özyurt, Zaman reporter
5          Abdulvahap İş (Freelance journalist)
6          Ahmet Altan
7          Ahmet Feyzullah Özyurt
8          Ahmet Memiş, Gazeteci, Haberdar news website
9          Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Zaman journalist
10        Ahmet Şık, Cumhuriyet reporter
11        Ahmet Turan Alkan, Zaman
12        Ahmet Yavaş, TRT (Erzurum)
13        Akın Atalay, Pres. of Cumhuriyet Foundation Executive Board
14        Alaattin Güner, Cihan media director
15        Ali Ahmet Böken, TRT News coordinator
16        Ali Aşikar – Azadiya Welat
17        Ali Babür Boysal, Zaman page designer
18        Ali Bulaç, former Zaman columnist
19        Ali Sönmez Kayar, ETHA reporter
20        Ali Ünal, Zaman columnist
21        Ali Yüce, TRT Radio broadcasts chief
22        Arafat Dayan, Demokratik Ulus
23        Aslı Ceren Aslan, Özgür Gelecek
24        Ayhan Demir, Çaldıran News Agency
25        Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak
26        Ayşenur Parıldak, Zaman, Haberdar
27        Aytekin Gezici, journalist/writer
28        Aziz İstegün, Diyarbakır Zaman representative
29        Barış Ceyhan, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi employee
30        Bayram Kaya, Zaman reporter
31        Behram Kılıç
32        Beytullah Özdemir, Zaman Düzce bureau chief
33        Burak Ekici, Birgün
34        Burçin Dokgöz, former Zaman and Çorum reporter
35        Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Journalists and Writers’ Foundation
36        Ceren Taşkın, Hatay’ın Sesi
37        Cuma Kaya, Zaman
38        Cuma Ulus, Millet newspaper’s publications coordinator
39        Cüneyt Seza Özkan, Samanyolu TV
40        Çetin Kurşun, Azadiya Welat
41        Emin Demir, Freelancer
42        Emre Soncan, Zaman defense reporter
43        Ercan Gün, Fox TV
44        Erdal Süsem, Eylül magazine editor
45        Erdal Şen, former Meydan managing editor
46        Erdoğan Alayamut, Dihaber reporter
47        Erol Yüksel (TRT News Department vice president))
48        Erol Zavar, Odak magazine, owner and newsroom director
49        Fahrettin Kılıç, Özgür Toplum
50        Faruk Akkan, Cihan news agency
51        Ferhat Çiftçi, Azadiya Welat Gaziantep bureau chief
52        Fevzi Yazıcı
53        Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Türksolu columnist
54        Gurbet Çakar, Hevi women’s magazine
55        Gültekin Avcı
56        Habip Güler, Zaman reporter
57        Hakan Aksel, TRT producer-director
58        Hakan Ergün, Azadiya Welat and Özgür Gündem distributor
59        Hakan Taşdelen
60        Halil İbrahim Mert, TRT (Erzurum)
61        Hamit Dilbahar, Azadiya Welat columnist
62        Hamza Günerigök, TRT
63        Hanım Büşra Erdal, Zaman reporter and columnist
64        Hasan Duman, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi distributor
65        Hatice Duman, Atılım newspaper’s owner and managing editor
66        Havva Cuştan, ETHA reporter
67        Hayati Yıldız, Azadiya Welat
68        Haydar Ergül, Demokratik Modernite editor
69        Hidayet Karaca, Samanyolu Media Group President
70        Hüseyin Aydın, Cihan reporter
71        Hüseyin Turan, Zaman columnist
72        İbrahim Kareyeğen, responsible editor for Zaman
73        İdris Okur, Cihan New Agency Çorum reporter
74        İdris Sayılgan, DİHA
75        İdris Yılmaz
76        İshak Karakaş, Hakın Nabzı editor in chief
77        İsmail Efe, local press advisor in İzmir
78        İsmail Ersan, Anatolia news agency
79        İsminaz Temel, ETHA editor
80        Kamuran Sunbat, DİHA Çukurova reporter (formerly)
81        Kemal Demir, TV 10
82        Kemal Özer, Evrensel
83        Kenan Karavil, Radyo Dünya editor-in-chief
84        Mehmet Ali Ay
85        Mehmet Altan
86        Mehmet Baransu, Taraf columnist/reporter
87        Mehmet Dener, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
88        Mehmet Güleş, DİHA
89        Mehmet Gündem
90        Mehmet Kuru, Zaman Eskişehir reporter
91        Mehmet Özdemir, Zaman columnist
92        Meltem Oktay, DİHA reporter
93        Mete Cem Bahtiyar, former BirGün reporter
94        Mikail Barut, Özgür Halk former editor
95        Miktat Algül, Mezitli FM General Publications Coordinator
96        Mizgin Çay – Radyo Karacadağ
97        Muhammet Taşçılar, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
98        Muhsin Pilgir, Zaman and Cihan news agency
99        Murat Avcıoğlu, Zaman
100       Murat Çapan, Nokta
101       Murat Dağdeviren (Demokrat Gebze owner)
102       Murat Sabuncu, Editor-in- Chief
103       Mustafa Erkan Acar, Bugün news editor,
104       Mustafa Gök, Ankara bureau chief for Ekmek ve Adalet magazine
105       Mustafa Ünal, Zaman
106       Mutlu Çölgeçen, Millet, newsroom coordinator
107       Mutlu Özay, Cihan reporter
108       Mümtazer Türköne, Zaman columnist
109       Nadir Yücel, Çorum Yıldız (local) Editor-in-Chief
110       Nedim Türfent,DİHA
111       Nizamettin İzgi (Batman Newspaper’s owner)
112       Nuh Gönültaş
113       Nuri Durna, TRT
114       Nuri Yeşil, Azadiya Welat Dersim bureau chief
115       Nurullah Kaya, G.antep Zaman representative
116       Oğuz Usluer, Habertürk former broadcasts coordinator
117       Osman Yakut, Zaman Antalya
118       Ömer Oruç, Cihan newspaper
119       Özcan Keser (TRT reporter)
120       Rabia Özkaya, Özgür Halk
121       Ramazan Alkan, Yeni Akit reporter
122       Resul Cengiz, Denizli reporter with Zaman
123       Sadık Demir – Radyo Karacadağ
124       Sait Gürka Tuzlu, Cihan reporter
125       Salih Erbekler – Radyo Karacadağ
126       Sami Tunca, Mücadele Birliği magazine Managing Editor
127       Seda Taşkın, Mesopotamia News Agency reporter
128       Semiha Mete, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi reporter and distributor
129       Serhat Şeftali, Zaman regional bureau chief for the Med region
130       Serkan Aydemir, Bitlis Aktüel reporter
131       Seyid Kılıç, TRT News
132       Seyithan Akyüz, Azadiya Welat Adana bureau chief
133       Şahabettin Demir, DİHA reporter
134       Şahin Alpay, Zaman columnist
135       Şeref Yılmaz, Irmak TV
136       Şerife Oruç, DİHA reporter
137       Tahsin Kürklü, Zaman – head of Logistics Department
138       Togay Okay, Özgür Gelecek
139       Tuncer Çetinkaya, Zaman Antalya
140       Turgut Usul, TRT reporter
141       Ufuk Şanlı, former Vatan columnist
142       Ünal Tanık, Rota Haber editor-in-chief
143       Vahit Yazgan, İzmir Zaman bureau chief
144       Veli Büyükşahin, TV10 executive
145       Veli Haydar Güleç, TV10 executive
146       Yakup Çetin, Zaman reporter
147       Yakup Şimşek, Zaman, marketing director
148       Yalçın Güler, TRT (Erzurum)
149       Yasir Kaya, Fenerbahçe TV, formerly
150       Yener Dönmez, Habervaktim news website
151       Yetkin Yıldız, Aktif Haber website editor
152       Yılmaz Kahraman, Özgür Halk editor
153       Zafer Özsoy
154       Zehra Doğan, Jinha
155       Ziya Ataman, DİHA reporter

For a full list of all the imprisoned journalists in Turkey, visit this spreadsheet. Lists of all of the foundations and associations as well as media outlets shut down can also be found at the same link, although on different tabs of the same spreadsheet.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button