Journalists in State of Emergency — 93

Journalist Kadri Gürsel was released in the third hearing of the Cumhuriyet trial on September 25, heard by the Istanbul 27th High Criminal Court.
 
The court ruled to keep Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu, executive and lawyer Akın Atalay, accountant Emre İper and reporter Ahmet Şık in pre-trial detention. A sixth defendant, Ahmet Kemal Aydoğdu who is not a Cumhuriyet employee, also remained in prison.
 
The trial was adjourned until Oct. 31.
 
Witnesses Fatih Aytuğ, Rıza Zelyut and Alev Coşkun were heard in the third trial. Another witness who was exp, Mehmet Faraç, a former Cumhuriyet editor, did not attend the trial.
 
Aytuğ’s testimony was related to messages allegedly tweeted by Ahmet Kemal Aydoğdu using the account @jeansbiri.
 
Alev Coşkun, a former Cumhuriyet board member, in his testimony described the trial he had initiated against the new board members of Cumhuriyet.
 
Coşkun said he was against the arrests, adding that people with whom who’d worked for 22 years cannot be tried as “terrorists.”
 
“I’ve known these people for 22 years, I know their past. These people can’t be terrorists, they cannot be FETÖ supporters,” he said referring to the acronym used by Turkish authorities to refer to the group which allegedly orchestrated last year’s coup attempt.
 
“What on earth is Turhan Günay doing here?” Coşkun said at some point in his testimony. Günay, who was released earlier in the trial, is the editor-in-chief of the newspaper’s literary supplement. “I am here thanks to you,” Turhan Günay replied
 
During the cross-examination by lawyers, Coşkun sounded less apologetic, saying the former executives were right in litigating against the newspaper. “This is Atatürk’s newspaper. This newspaper has its fundamental principles such as loyalty to Atatürk and Cumhuriyet. This is not a newspaper where you can bring a terror group to the head of the table.”
 
Rıza Zelyut, a columnist who has never worked for Cumhuriyet, said in his testimony that “some circles have used the foundation to seize the Cumhuriyet newspaper.”
 
“Who did this? Whoever hired Nuray Mert, Can Dündar and Aydın Engin did this,” Zelyut said; naming journalists and columnists who are known for their liberal views.
 
“I was hired in 1992 by İlhan Selçuk,” Aydın Engin replied, referring to Cumhuriyet’s widely respected chief columnist for two decades who passed away in 2010.
 
Zelyut said there were too many stories about the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and its leader Selahattin Demirtaş on the newspaper’s website.
 
The prosecutor then demanded that all of the defendants remain in pre-trial detention.
 
Gürsel, who spoke after the prosecutor expressed his demands, requested his release saying none of the rationales provided by the prosecution for the continued detention apply to him.
 
Ahmet Şık, Murat Sabuncu and Emre İper said they had no demands from the court.

In its interim ruling, the court released Gürsel and also filed a criminal complaint against the pro-government Akşam and Star newspapers, which both tweeted prematurely — prior to the court’s announcement of the ruling — that all six defendants would remain in prison.
 
The number of journalists in prison remained as 170, as P24 updated its list to include photo-journalist Ömer Sezgin, whose arrest in May had not previously been recorded. The full list of imprisoned journalists can be found here.
 
Turkish journalist detained in Malaysia
 
Journalist Mustafa Akyol was detained on Sept. 25 on charges of “conducting religious studies in violation of Sharia laws”, in Malaysia.
 
The journalist was going to make a presentation on the mutual aspects of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
 
He was released after 18 hours in custody. The journalist reportedly left the country and the forum where he was scheduled to speak was canceled.
 
RTÜK introduces sanctions against Iraqi Kurdish stations
 
The Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) issued an order for television networks based in the Iraqi Kurdistan,  which use the Turksat satellite platform, to be taken off air.
 
RTÜK’s decision came when the Kurdistan Regional Government held a referendum for independence of the region. Rudaw TV, Kurdistan24 TV and  Waar Tv’ were taken off the Turksat satellite platform.
 
 
List of journalists in prison 

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 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, Eski Zaman columnist
19       Ali Konar, Azadiya Welat bureau chief
20       Ali Ünal, Zaman columnist
21       Ali Yüce, TRT Radio broadcasts chief
22       Arafat Dayan, Demokratik Ulus
23       Aslı Ceren Aslan, Özgür Gelecek
24       Atilla Taş, Meydan columnist
25       Ayhan Demir, Çaldıran News Agency
26       Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak
27       Ayşenur Parıldak, Zaman, Haberdar
28       Aytekin Gezici, journalist/writer
29       Aziz İstegün, Diyarbakır Zaman representative
30       Bayram Kaya, Zaman reporter
31       Beytullah Özdemir, Zaman Düzce bureau chief
32       Burak Ekici, Birgün
33       Burçin Dokgöz, former Zaman and Çorum reporter
34       Cebrail Parıltı, Anadolu Ajansı (AA) Derik 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       Çağdaş Erdoğan, Photojournalist
41       Deniz Yücel, Die Welt
42       Emin Demir, Freelancer
43       Emre Soncan, Zaman defense reporter
44       Ercan Gün, Fox TV
45       Erdal Süsem, Eylül magazine editor
46       Erdal Şen, former Meydan managing editor
47       Erdoğan Alayamut, Dihaber reporter
48       Erol Yüksel (TRT News Department vice president))
49       Erol Zavar, Odak magazine, owner and newsroom director
50       Fahrettin Kılıç, Özgür Toplum
51       Faruk Akkan, Cihan news agency
52       Ferhat Çiftçi, Azadiya Welat Gaziantep bureau chief
53       Fevzi Yazıcı
54       Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Türksolu columnist
55       Gökmen Ulu, Sözcü
56       Gurbet Çakar, Hevi women’s magazine
57       Gültekin Avcı
58       Habip Güler, Zaman reporter
59       Hakan Aksel, TRT producer-director
60       Hakan Ergün, Azadiya Welat and Özgür Gündem distributor
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       Hatice Duman, Atılım newspaper’s owner and managing editor
68       Hayati Yıldız, Azadiya Welat
69       Hidayet Karaca, Samanyolu Media Group President
70       Hülya Karakaya, Özgür Halk Managing Editor
71       Hüseyin Aydın, Cihan reporter
72       Hüseyin Turan, Zaman columnist
73       İbrahim Balta, Zaman business editor
74       İbrahim Kareyeğen, responsible editor for Zaman
75       İdris Okur, Cihan New Agency Çorum reporter
76       İdris Sayılgan, DİHA
77       İlker İlkan, Azadiya Welat
78       İnan Kızılkaya, Özgür Gündem Newsroom Editor
79       İsmail Avcı, Zaman
80       İsmail Efe, local press advisor in İzmir
81       Kamuran Sunbat, DİHA Çukurova reporter (formerly)
82       Kemal Özer, Evrensel
83       Kemal Sancılı, Özgür Gündem copyrights holder
84       Kenan Karavil, Radyo Dünya editor-in-chief
85       Lokman Erdoğan, Çorum Manşet, owner
86       Mahir Kanaat, BirGün, head of accountingn
87       Mehmet Ali Ay
88       Mehmet Altan
89       Mehmet Baransu, Taraf columnist/reporter
90       Mehmet Çakmakçı, Medyascope.tv reporter
91       Mehmet Dener, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
92       Mehmet Güleş, DİHA
93       Mehmet Kuru, Zaman Eskişehir reporter
94       Mehmet Özdemir, Zaman columnist
95       Mehmet Sıddık Damar
96       Meltem Oktay, DİHA reporter
97       Meşale Tolu, ETHA translater
98       Mikail Barut, Özgür Halk former editor
99       Miktat Algül, Mezitli FM General Publications Coordinator
100     Mizgin Çay – Radyo Karacadağ
101     Muhammet Taşçılar, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
102     Muhsin Pilgir, Zaman and Cihan news agency
103     Murat Aksoy,former Yeni Şafak columnist
104     Murat Avcıoğlu, Zaman
105     Murat Çapan,
106     Murat Çelikkan (Özgür Gündem solidarity trial)
107     Murat Dağdeviren (Demokrat Gebze owner)
108     Murat Sabuncu, Editor-in- Chief
109     Mustafa Erkan Acar, Bugün news editor,
110     Mustafa Gök, Ankara bureau chief for Ekmek ve Adalet magazine
111     Mustafa Ünal, Zaman
112     Mutlu Çölgeçen, Millet, newsroom coordinator
113     Mutlu Özay, Cihan reporter
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     Ömer Çelik, DİHA news manager
125     Ömer Faruk Aydemir, İHA editor
126     Ömer Oruç, Cihan newspaper
127     Ömer Özdemir, Antalya eski Zaman muhabiri
128     Ömer Sezgin, freelance photographer
129     Özcan Keser (TRT reporter)
130     Özkan Erdoğan, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi
131     Rabia Özkaya, Özgür Halk
132     Ramazan Alkan, Yeni Akit reporter
133     Resul Cengiz, Denizli reporter with Zaman
134     Sadık Demir – Radyo Karacadağ
135     Sait Gürka Tuzlu, Cihan reporter
136     Salih Erbekler – Radyo Karacadağ
137     Sami Tunca, Mücadele Birliği magazine Managing Editor
138     Selman Keleş, DİHA
139     Semiha Mete, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi reporter and distributor
140     Serhat Şeftali, Zaman regional bureau chief for the Med region
141     Serkan Aydemir, Bitlis Aktüel reporter
142     Serkan Erdoğan, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi
143     Seyid Kılıç, TRT News
144     Seyithan Akyüz, Azadiya Welat Adana bureau chief
145     Sezgin Kartal, Sosyalist Dayanımşa magazine
146     Şahabettin Demir, DİHA reporter
147     Şahin Alpay, Zaman columnist
148     Şeref Yılmaz, Irmak TV
149     Şerife Oruç, DİHA reporter
150     Şirin Çoban, Azadiya Welat
151     Tahsin Kürklü, Zaman – head of Logistics Department
152     Togay Okay, Özgür Gelecek
153     Tunca Öğreten, former Diken editor
154     Tuncer Çetinkaya, Zaman Antalya
155     Ufuk Şanlı, former Vatan columnist
156     Ulaş Sezgin, ETHA reporter
157     Ünal Tanık, Rota Haber editor-in-chief
158     Vahit Yazgan, İzmir Zaman bureau chief
159     Vedat Beki, Sözcü 18
160     Vedat Demir, former Yarına Bakış writer
161     Yakup Çetin, Zaman reporter
162     Yakup Şimşek, Zaman, marketing director
163     Yalçın Güler, TRT (Erzurum)
164     Yasir Kaya, Fenerbahçe TV, formerly
165     Yener Dönmez, Habervaktim news website
166     Yetkin Yıldız, Aktif Haber website editor
167     Yılmaz Kahraman, Özgür Halk editor
168     Zafer Özsoy
169     Zehra Doğan, Jinha
170     Ziya Ataman, DİHA reporter

Click here to view the list in a spreadsheet file; where figures on shuttered media and civil society associations are also available on separate tabs.