A court in İstanbul arrested Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Can Dündar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül over a report that documented Turkish intelligence’s involvement in the transfer of arms into Syria.
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European diplomats are measured in their criticism of media freedom in Turkey and Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule, recognising the West needs Ankara’s help on the migrant crisis and as an ally in the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State.
A version of this article appears in print on November 28, 2015 of The Himalayan Times. “In the wake of the EU-Turkey summit in Brussels, Turkish authorities should correct the situation by releasing immediately our colleagues”, President of European Federation of Journalists Mogens Blicher Bjerregard said in a statement published at EFJ’s website. Some officials later suggested the trucks were carrying arms or ammunition destined to Turkmen kinsmen in Syria.
In August, three foreign journalists were arrested, and journalists with Milliyet perceived as being critical of the Turkish president and his government were fired.
In an interview with state-run TRT television on June 1, the Turkish president vowed that Mr Dundar would “pay a heavy price” for his reporting.
Cumhuriyet was awarded the media watchdog’s 2015 Press Freedom Prize just last week, with Dundar travelling to Strasbourg to receive the award.
Following the earlier arrests, hundreds of protestors demonstrated in front of the Istanbul office of the Cumhurriyet newspaper in solidarity with the journalists.
“The government does not want any journalist to see what kind of a calamity they have involved Turkey in”, opposition lawmaker Baris Yarkadas told AP.
Meanwhile, Turkish people staged a protest rally on Friday outside the Istanbul premises of the Cumhuriyet newspaper in support of the paper’s two journalists. Main opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said the decision marked a “black day” for democracy and freedoms. They stated a belief that “society” was getting ready to “explode” at any moment.
After a wave of crackdowns on opposition news media that gained impetus following the Justice and Development Party recovered its parliamentary majority in elections, the arrests were the latest setback to press freedom in Turkey.
In February, Mr Dundar, 54, was called to testify on separate charges of insulting Mr Erdogan, one of scores of such cases opened since Mr Erdogan moved from the prime ministry to the presidency previous year.
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“Journalists can not be spies because journalists do not hide but reveal information for the good of the public”, he said.
