Journalists in State of Emergency – 74

On July 12, a court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır ordered Medyascope.tv reporter Mehmet Çakmakçı, who uses the pen name Şiyar Dicle, be jailed pending trial on terrorism charges.
 
Çakmakçı was imprisoned along with five other people, including Kurdish PEN member writer Hasip Yanlıç, who, like Çakmakçı, was arrested in a police raid on July 4. News reports said Çakmakçı and Yanlıç have been charged with “membership in a terrorist organization” and that an order of confidentiality is imposed on the investigation.
 
Çakmakçı has been contributing to Medyascope.tv, an internet-based television station, with reports from Diyarbakır and its region. Earlier, he worked for various organizations including Azadi TV, Hayatın Sesi TV and DİHA, all of which have been shut down under emergency decrees.
 
Çakmakçı’s imprisonment brings the number of jailed journalists, serving a conviction or awaiting trial, to 166. The full list can be viewed here.
 
Arrest warrants for 34 ex-TRT employees
 
On July 12, authorities issued arrest warrants for 34 former employees of the state broadcaster TRT.
 
State news agency Anadolu reported that the arrest warrants were issued as part of an investigation into “the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETÖ/PDY) presence in state institutions.” The report said the 34 people were users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging application that courts say is used by members of the group.
 
The report also said arrests were in progress but did not say how many have been taken into police custody or provide the names of the 34 people to be arrested.
 
Academic-writer Koray Çalışkan placed under house arrest
 
Academic and columnist Koray Çalışkan, arrested in a police raid on his home early on July 10, was released under judicial control on July 14.
 
The court ruled to place Çalışkan under house arrest and ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring anklet.
 
Çalışkan was detained as part of an investigation into the “academic arm” of the organization referred to as the “Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETÖ/PDY)” along with 41 others. A total of 72 arrest warrants were issued for eight academics of the prestigous Bosphorus University and 64 academics of the Medeniyet University in the investigation. He was reportedly accused of “FETÖ propaganda” and “insulting the president.”

DİHABER reporters arrested in Gaziantep
 
Two reporters of pro-Kurdish news agency DİHABER, Erdoğan Alayumat and Nuri Akman, were taken into custody in Islahiye district in the southeastern province of Gaziantep late on July 13.
 
Alayumat and Akman were reportedly on a journalistic mission near the Syrian border and were arrested in Islahiye town center upon a “complaint.” The police concluded there was “reasonable doubt” to justify their detention. The two reporters were taken to the district police headquarters and were still being held there at the time of the writing of this report as their cameras were being examined.
 
Evrensel editor sued for “insulting the president”
 
A prosecutor has launched a criminal investigation into Evrensel daily Editor-in-Chief Fatih Polat for “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over a column featuring a Malta Files report about alleged business dealings of the president’s family.
 
Polat wrote on his Twitter account that he was under investigation for reprinting the report by Craig Shaw, entitled “Turkish President Erdoğan's family in secret offshore ship deal,” in his column, published on May 28. “The charge is ‘insulting the president.’ But there is no insult, there is only journalism,” Polat wrote.
 
The column was later removed under a court order.
 
Özgürlükçü Demokrasi employee in police custody
 
Pro-Kurdish Özgürlükçü Demokrasi employee Zeki Erdem was taken into police custody on July 11. The news of Erdem’s detention emerged two days later because his family or lawyer were not notified of the arrest.
 
Erdem was arrested in Siverek district of Şanlıurfa while he was traveling from Adana to Diyarbakır in southeastern Turkey on an inter-city bus and was taken to Şanlıurfa Police Directorate. The reason for arrest is not currently known.
 
Erdem was able to notify his colleagues in Özgürlükçü Demokrasi daily about his situation through a lawyer who was at the police headquarters to visit a client.
 
“Insult” trial against Ahmet Altan postponed
 
A court in Istanbul adjourned trial of journalist and novelist Ahmet Altan, in which he is accused of “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in comments in an interview with him. The next hearing of the trial will be held on December 5, 2017.
 
Altan was charged with “insulting the president” in connection with some of his comments in the interview, published in the website grihat.com.tr on April 13, 2015. Erdoğan’s lawyers initially withdrew the complaint as part of the president’s decision to drop complaints in all insult cases as a one-off gesture, but then told the court they decided to reverse that decision, pressing ahead with the complaint against Altan.
 
Activist arrested over poems
 
Sara Aktaş, a poet and an activist with the Tevgera Jinen Azad (TJA, Free Women’s Platform) who was imprisoned in late June in an operation conducted by Diyarbakır police in several cities was arrested for her poetry.
 
On June 14, 24 people were taken into custody in an operation directed at members of the TJA, the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) being conducted by the Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office. After ten days in custody, 15 of the people who had been detained in the operation were put under formal arrest.
 
Susma anti-censorship platform reported that Aktaş was interrogated about her poems, which the prosecutor claims “incite the public to hatred and hostility.” Lawyer Keziban Yılmaz who spoke to Susma about the case said the police had included a Word document with unpublished poems by Aktaş as evidence against the poet.
 
Aktaş, who testified in Kurdish relying on the assistance of a translator, said she has been writing poetry for many years and that her published books clearly show that she has never written a single word that might incite the public to hatred or hostility.
 
Access to Constitutional Court ruling blocked
 
It has emerged that the Izmir 4th Criminal Judicature of Peace in May issued a ruling that blocked access to a decision of the Turkish Constitutional Court.
 
Lawyer Yaman Akdeniz tweeted a scanned photo of the ruling, which was made in relation with a person identified as D.Y. who had been victim of mistreatment by police. The judge, Alev Özcan, ruled to block access to content related to D.Y’s mistreatment based on a request from D.Y. One of the sites blocked included a Constitutional Court decision, which ordered the offending police department to pay a compensation to D.Y.
 
The ruling was made on May 22, 2017. The Judicature of Peace found that allowing access to content about D.Y.’s mistreatment was “a violation of his personal rights.”
 
It also emerged that the same judge made the same ruling while serving at the now dysfunctional Izmir 7th Criminal Judgeship of Peace on March 29, again in response to a petition by D.Y.
 
The 7th Criminal Judicature of Peace was shut down after the access ban ruling was publicly disclosed. Before it was shut down, on July 12, the Judicature of Peace said the link to the Constitutional Court ruling had been blocked in error. However, no such action has taken place for the new ruling that again blocks access to the high court’s ruling.

Journalists imprisoned in Turkey
 
1          Abdulkadir Turay, DİHA reporter
2          Abdullah Kılıç, Habertürk
3          Abdullah Özyurt, Zaman reporter
4          Abdulvahap İş (Freelance journalist)
5          Abdürrahim Ersöz, Antalya
6          Ahmet Altan
7          Ahmet Memiş, Gazeteci, Haberdar news website
8          Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Zaman journalist
9          Ahmet Şık, Cumhuriyet reporter
10       Ahmet Turan Alkan, Zaman
11       Ahmet Yavaş, TRT (Erzurum)
12       Akın Atalay, Pres. of Cumhuriyet Foundation Executive Board
13       Alaattin Güner, Cihan media director
14       Ali Ahmet Böken, TRT News coordinator
15       Ali Aşikar – Azadiya Welat
16       Ali Babür Boysal, Zaman page designer
17       Ali Bulaç, Eski Zaman columnist
18       Ali Konar, Azadiya Welat bureau chief
19       Ali Ünal, Zaman columnist
20       Ali Yüce, TRT Radio broadcasts chief
21       Arafat Dayan, Demokratik Ulus
22       Aslı Ceren Aslan, Özgür Gelecek
23       Atilla Taş, Meydan columnist
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       Bayram Kaya, Zaman reporter
30       Beytullah Özdemir, Zaman Düzce bureau chief
31       Burçin Dokgöz, former Zaman and Çorum reporter
32       Bülent Utku, Cumhuriyet Foundation board member
33       Bünyamin Köseli, Aksiyon magazine reporter
34       Cebrail Parıltı, Anadolu Ajansı (AA) Derik reporter
35       Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Journalists and Writers’ Foundation
36       Ceren Taşkın, Hatay'ın Sesi
37       Cihan Acar, Bugün reporter
38       Cuma Kaya, Zaman
39       Cuma Ulus, Millet newspaper’s publications coordinator
40       Deniz Yücel, Die Welt
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       Erol Yüksel (TRT News Department vice president))
47       Erol Zavar, Odak magazine, owner and newsroom director
48       Fahrettin Kılıç, Özgür Toplum
49       Faruk Akkan, Cihan news agency
50       Ferhat Çiftçi, Azadiya Welat Gaziantep bureau chief
51       Fevzi Yazıcı
52       Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Türksolu columnist
53       Gökmen Ulu, Sözcü
54       Gurbet Çakar, Hevi women’s magazine
55       Gültekin Avcı
56       Güray Tekin Öz, columnist
57       Habip Güler, Zaman reporter
58       Hakan Aksel, TRT producer-director
59       Hakan Ergün, Azadiya Welat and Özgür Gündem distributor
60       Hakan Karasinir, columnist
61       Hakan Taşdelen
62       Halil İbrahim Mert, TRT (Erzurum)
63       Hamit Dilbahar, Azadiya Welat columnist
64       Hamza Günerigök, TRT
65       Hanım Büşra Erdal, Zaman reporter and columnist
66       Hasan Duman, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi distributor
67       Haşim Söylemez, Aksiyon columnist
68       Hatice Duman, Atılım newspaper’s owner and managing editor
69       Hayati Yıldız, Azadiya Welat
70       Hidayet Karaca, Samanyolu Media Group President
71       Hülya Karakaya, Özgür Halk Managing Editor
72       Hüseyin Aydın, Cihan reporter
73       Hüseyin Turan, Zaman columnist
74       İbrahim Balta, Zaman business editor
75       İbrahim Kareyeğen, responsible editor for Zaman
76       İdris Okur, Cihan New Agency Çorum reporter
77       İdris Sayılgan, DİHA
78       İlker İlkan, Azadiya Welat
79       İnan Kızılkaya, Özgür Gündem Newsroom Editor
80       İsa Siyi, Haberdar
81       İsmail Avcı, Zaman
82       İsmail Efe, local press advisor in İzmir
83       Kadri Gürsel, Editorial Advisor
84       Kamuran Sunbat, DİHA Çukurova reporter (formerly)
85       Kemal Sancılı, Özgür Gündem copyrights holder
86       Kenan Karavil, Radyo Dünya editor-in-chief
87       Lokman Erdoğan, Çorum Manşet, owner
88       Mahir Kanaat, BirGün, head of accountingn
89       Mediha Olgun, Sözcü
90       Mehmet Altan
91       Mehmet Baransu, Taraf columnist/reporter
92       Mehmet Çakmakçı, Medyascope.tv reporter
93       Mehmet Dener, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
94       Mehmet Güleş, DİHA
95       Mehmet Kuru, Zaman Eskişehir reporter
96       Mehmet Özdemir, Zaman columnist
97       Meltem Oktay, DİHA reporter
98       Meşale Tolu, ETHA translater
99       Mikail Barut, Özgür Halk former editor
100     Miktat Algül, Mezitli FM General Publications Coordinator
101     Mizgin Çay – Radyo Karacadağ
102     Muhammet Taşçılar, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
103     Murat Aksoy,former Yeni Şafak columnist
104     Murat Avcıoğlu, Zaman
105     Murat Çapan,
106     Murat Dağdeviren (Demokrat Gebze owner)
107     Murat Sabuncu, Editor-in- Chief
108     Musa Kart, Cartoonist
109     Mustafa Erkan Acar, Bugün news editor,
110     Mustafa Gök, Ankara bureau chief for Ekmek ve Adalet magazine
111     Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Cumhuriyet Foundation board member
112     Mustafa Ünal, Zaman
113     Mutlu Çölgeçen, Millet, newsroom coordinator
114     Mümtazer Türköne, Zaman columnist
115     Nadir Yücel, Çorum Yıldız (local) Editor-in-Chief
116     Nedim Türfent,DİHA
117     Nizamettin İzgi (Batman Newspaper’s owner)
118     Nur Ener, Yeni Asya
119     Nuri Durna, TRT
120     Nuri Yeşil, Azadiya Welat Dersim bureau chief
121     Nurullah Kaya, G.antep Zaman representative
122     Oğuz Usluer, Habertürk former broadcasts coordinator
123     Osman Yakut, Zaman Antalya
124     Ozan Kaplanoğlu, Bursa Muhalif
125     Ömer Çelik, DİHA news manager
126     Ömer Oruç, Cihan newspaper
127     Ömer Özdemir, Antalya eski Zaman muhabiri
128     Önder Çelik, Cumhuriyet Foundation board member
129     Özcan Keser (TRT reporter)
130     Rabia Özkaya, Özgür Halk
131     Ramazan Alkan, Yeni Akit reporter
132     Resul Cengiz, Denizli reporter with Zaman
133     Sadık Demir – Radyo Karacadağ
134     Salih Erbekler – Radyo Karacadağ
135     Sami Tunca, Mücadele Birliği magazine Managing Editor
136     Selman Keleş, DİHA
137     Serhat Şeftali, Zaman regional bureau chief for the Med region
138     Serkan Aydemir, Bitlis Aktüel reporter
139     Seyid Kılıç, TRT News
140     Seyithan Akyüz, Azadiya Welat Adana bureau chief
141     Sezgin Kartal, Sosyalist Dayanımşa magazine
142     Şahabettin Demir, DİHA reporter
143     Şahin Alpay, Zaman columnist
144     Şeref Yılmaz, Irmak TV
145     Şerife Oruç, DİHA reporter
146     Şirin Çoban, Azadiya Welat
147     Tahsin Kürklü, Zaman – head of Logistics Department
148     Togay Okay, Özgür Gelecek
149     Tunca Öğreten, former Diken editor
150     Tuncer Çetinkaya, Zaman Antalya
151     Turhan Günay, Chief Editor of Cumhuriyet supplement
152     Ufuk Şanlı, former Vatan columnist
153     Ulaş Sezgin, ETHA reporter
154     Ünal Tanık, Rota Haber editor-in-chief
155     Vahit Yazgan, İzmir Zaman bureau chief
156     Vedat Beki, Sözcü 18
157     Vedat Demir, former Yarına Bakış writer
158     Yakup Çetin, Zaman reporter
159     Yakup Şimşek, Zaman, marketing director
160     Yalçın Güler, TRT (Erzurum)
161     Yener Dönmez, Habervaktim news website
162     Yetkin Yıldız, Aktif Haber website editor
163     Yılmaz Kahraman, Özgür Halk editor
164     Zafer Özsoy
165     Zehra Doğan, Jinha
166     Ziya Ataman, DİHA reporter
 
 
Lists of all journalists in prison and the media institutions, associations and foundations closed down under the State of Emergency can be viewed here.

Tags: Erdoğan Alayumat, Fatih Polat, Hasip Yanlıç, Mehmet Çakmakçı, nuri akman, Sara Aktaş, trt, Zeki Erdem