ISTANBUL: An Istanbul court has placed under arrest nine journalists on suspicion of links to the alleged mastermind of the failed 2016 coup, the latest in a series of measures against Turkish media workers that have alarmed the West.
Turkish authorities had on August 10 issued arrest warrants for 35 media employees accused of using the Bylock messaging app allegedly used by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen to mobilize followers in Turkey and of belonging to a “terror” group.
A total of 11 were detained at the time and late on Wednesday an Istanbul court placed nine under arrest ahead of trial and released two under judicial supervision, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
Among the nine remanded in custody is the website editor at the leftist opposition Birgun daily Burak Ekici and the former news editor of the TV channel of Turkish football side Fenerbahce, Yasir Kaya.
Those released include a prominent former columnist for the Turkiye daily, Ahmet Sagirli. Anadolu said searches are continuing for the remaining 24 suspects, who are likely to have fled abroad.
The latest arrests come amid growing alarm over press freedom in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in particular under the state of emergency imposed in the wake of the failed July 2016 coup and which remains in place.
Gulen, an Islamic preacher who lives in the US state of Pennsylvania, denies any link to the botched putsch.
Turkey ranks 155 on the latest Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) world press freedom index, below Belarus and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the latest figures from the P24 press freedom website, there are 164 journalists behind bars in Turkey, most of whom were detained under the state of emergency.
In one of the highest profile cases, 17 staff from the Cumhuriyet daily — one of the few voices in the media in Turkey to oppose Erdogan — last month went on trial for aiding “terror” groups.
While most of the suspects in that case have been released from pre-trial detention, four Cumhuriyet journalists remain behind bars.
The crackdown has also affected foreign reporters and freelance French journalist Loup Bureau was detained last month on charges of links to a Kurdish militia Ankara regards as a terror group.
Turkey places 9 more journalists under arrest ‘over Gulen links’
Turkey places 9 more journalists under arrest ‘over Gulen links’
Arab-Israeli conflict has expanded into ‘full scale regional war’: Arab League envoy
- The League of Arab States joins the Secretary-General of the United Nations in urging all states to respect their obligations under international law
NEW YORK: The Arab League on Saturday condemned the overnight escalation by Israel and Iran, warning that it risks igniting a full-scale regional war in the Middle East.
It also condemned Iran’s attacks on several Arab states, and affirmed “its support for any measures they take to defend themselves and to protect their populations.”
Speaking at an emergency UN Security Council session, the Arab League’s permanent observer, Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz, criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank and neighboring countries, calling them “a glaring failure of the multilateral international system.”
The Arab-Israeli conflict “has expanded into a full-scale regional war,” he said. “Israel seeks, through this escalation, to evade ending its occupation of Palestinian territories, to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and to obstruct Palestine’s admission to the UN in implementation of the two-state solution and the core principles of international legitimacy.”
He accused Israel of broadening its military campaigns beyond Palestine to Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iran, describing them as attempts “to impose Israel’s hegemony on the Middle East by using military means, even if it is at the expense of the member states of the League of Arab States and the suffering of their peoples.”
Abdelaziz also criticized Israel’s stance on nuclear weapons, saying it has “refused to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” declined “to subject its nuclear facilities to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) comprehensive safeguards regime,” and boycotted the UN conference on establishing a Middle East free of nuclear weapons.
“This Israeli stand reflects the fact that Israel wants to remain the only state acquiring ambiguous nuclear capabilities in the Middle East and capable of producing nuclear weapons,” he said.
Abdelaziz also condemned Iran’s attacks on several Arab states, calling them “cowardly and unjustified military assaults” that threaten to escalate the conflict further.
Missile attacks on Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon constitute “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of states that advocate for peace,” he said.
“The Arab League Secretariat expresses full solidarity with these Arab states in confronting these attacks.”
Abdelaziz urged the international community to act quickly to prevent further escalation and to return to dialogue, emphasizing that Arab states had previously sought to mediate the Iranian crisis.
“The League of Arab States joins the Secretary-General of the United Nations in urging all states to respect their obligations under international law, including the UN Charter, which clearly prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” he said.
Abdelaziz called on the UNSC, with the US assuming the council’s presidency on Wednesday, to lead efforts to halt military operations and resume negotiations, drawing on “the positive momentum generated by last week’s Board of Peace meeting and by the role of (US) President (Donald) Trump in advancing global peace.”
