FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

Latest News

• Journalist Akman: We were beaten and kicked around the floor 

  Kurdish journalist Nuri Akman has made serious allegations against the Romanian authorities. After successfully resisting deportation to Turkey in Bucharest, he was eventually released.
• Lawyers apply to Constitutional Court for arrested journalists 

  Lawyers applied to the Turkish Constitutional Court (AYM) for 4 journalists who were arrested for reporting on two people thrown out of a helicopter in Van.
• JinNews website blocked for the third time in a month 

  The website of the news agency JinNews has been blocked in Turkey again following a decision by the telecommunications authority.
• Investigation against journalists following trustee protests  

  Following the usurpation of Mardin Metropolitan Municipality by the AKP-MHP, 8 people, including 5 journalists detained while following the protests, were sued.
• Journalist Akman and three Kurds detained in Romania 

  Fifty refugees, including Kurdish journalist Nuri Akman, were taken into custody in Romania. 35 of them were deported to Turkey.
• From witnesses to defendants of the incident they exposed 

  The hearing of the case opened against the 5 people who were beaten and detained by the police and later released on charges of "resisting an officer" was held in Van.
• Employee of Yeni Yaşam newspaper detained in Ankara 

  An employee of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Yeni Yaşam, Hamdullah Bayram, has been detained in Ankara without giving reasons. According to the media rights organization MLSA, he was mistreated and threatened with death.
• Journalist Aziz Oruç released from prison 

  Kurdish journalist Aziz Oruç, who had been taken into custody 11 months ago in Doğubayazıt, has been released.
• Yeni Yaşam journalist Ibrahim Karakaş remanded in custody 

  Yeni Yaşam journalist Ibrahim Karakaş remanded in custody.
• DFG: 11 journalists detained, 4 jailed in October 

  Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) released its "Report on Rights Violations Against Journalists" according to which 11 journalists were detained while 4 journalists were jailed in October.
• Prosecutor seeks up to 15 years jail sentence for reporter Boltan 

  Two press conferences he joined and social media posts were used to prepare the indictment, against journalist Hakkı Boltan. A prison sentence of up to 15 years is sought.
• JinNews website blocked again 

  The website of the news agency JinNews has been blocked in Turkey again following a decision by the telecommunications authority.
• Free Press Association holds 5th congress in Qamishlo 

  The 5th Congress of the Free Press Association started in Qamishlo.
• Censorship in Turkey: JinNews website blocked 

  The website of the news agency JinNews has been blocked in Turkey following a decision by the telecommunications authority.
• ECPMF calls for the release of four Kurdish journalists 

  The arrest of journalists violates not only the rights to liberty and freedom of expression of the reporters themselves and also the right to information of the general public, said ECPMF.
• Court sentences journalist Temizkan to 15 months in prison 

  Journalist Sabiha Temizkan was sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison on the grounds of her social media posts. The court did not delay the sentence.
• Court says digital material seized at Özgür Gündem office missing 

  A Turkish court announced that the digital material seized in the raid on Özgür Gündem were missing.
• Trustee in Amed destroys memory of murdered journalist  

  In the city of Amed, a street bears the name of journalist Hafız Akdemir, who was murdered by Contra-guerrilla in 1992. The state-imposed city's trustee had the name of the paper removed.
• Newspaper distributor taken into custody in Van 

  The Turkish regime’s repression against free press continues unabated.
• Freedom on the Net report: Internet 'not free' in Turkey, again 

  Freedom House has released its “Freedom on the Net 2020: The Pandemic’s Digital Shadow” report. Covering the period from June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020, the report has once again said that Turkey’s “freedom in the world status” is not free.
• Jailed journalist Uğur: They can't silence the voice of truth 

  Journalist Cemil Uğur sent a message from prison: “Many governments in history have arrested journalists who brought the truth to the public, but they have never been able to cut the voice of truth. They cannot afford it."
• Journalist Ishak Yasul sentenced to prison in Istanbul 

  The former editor-in-chief of the closed down daily Özgürlükçü Demokrasi, Ishak Yasul, has been sentenced to ten months in prison in Istanbul.
• Council of Europe discusses the arrest of journalists in Van 

  The journalists in question documented how two civilians were thrown from a military helicopter after getting arrested by Turkish soldiers.
• Jailed journalist: We will protect the honor of our profession 

  Imprisoned Journalist Adnan Bilen says; "We will continue to keep journalism alive."
• YPJ Press Center commemorates martyrs 

  Commemorating the press martyrs, YPJ said, "They shared every moment of the war and resistance in severe conditions with the public. We will write the history of the liberation of our lands with their pen."