7 journalists arrested throughout Turkey
Turkish authorities must immediately release the
seven journalists who were detained by police since August 19, as well as all
journalists jailed for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
today.
On August 19, police arrested Ziyan Karahan, the
Kurdish-language editor for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency, at her home
in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır, according to a report by her employer.
The following day, police arrested five journalists who were covering protests
against political appointees in Mardin, according to a report by Mezopotamya.
Also on August 20, police arrested Ayşegül Tözeren, a writer and
columnist for the leftist daily Evrensel, at her home in Istanbul, her employer
reported. The seven journalists remain in custody, according to those reports.
“The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
shows no sign of easing its clampdown on Turkey’s media and the unjust
imprisonment of reporters for doing their jobs,” said CPJ Program Director
Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “The journalists arrested since
August 19, as well as the dozens of other journalists sitting in Turkish jails
for their work, should be released immediately.”
Authorities told Karahan that she was detained for
her “journalistic activities,” according to the Mezopotamya report.
Mezopotamya identified the journalists arrested at
the protest in Mardin as Mezopotamya reporters Ahmet Kanbal and Mehmet Şah
Oruç, Jin News Agency
reporter Rojda Aydın,
and freelance journalists Nurcan Yalçın and Halime Parlak. The five were
arrested as police dispersed the protest with tear gas and water cannons, which
also saw authorities injure three parliamentary deputies of the pro-Kurdish
People’s Democratic Party, according to that report.
Police did not offer any explanation for Tözeren’s
arrest, and did not allow her lawyers to visit her in custody, citing a 24-hour
restriction period, according to Evrensel.
CPJ emailed the Turkish Ministry of Justice and the
General Directorate of Police for comment on the arrests but did not
immediately receive any response.
Also on August 20, authorities in the southeastern
city of Mersin released Mezopotamya reporter Ergin Çağlar
from custody after detaining him since August 16, his employer reported. He was
released on probation pending an investigation into his alleged membership in
an illegal organization, which he denies, according to Mezopotamya.
Turkey is the world’s worst jailer of journalists,
with at least 68 in jail in direct relation to their work at the time of CPJ's
2018 prison census.
