ANKARA: Sixteen Turkish journalists linked to pro-Kurdish media outlets were remanded into custody on Thursday, pending trial and accused of belonging to a “terrorist organization,” a lawyer said.
The journalists worked for media aligned with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which risks being banned in Turkey over alleged links to outlawed militants waging a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.
The 16 were detained, along with four other journalists, on June 8 in Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey, accused of belonging to the press services of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), classed as a “terrorist” group by Ankara, the EU and the United States.
The HDP denies formal ties to the PKK.
On Thursday, the 16 were accused of “belonging to a terrorist organization,” according to the arrest document. A defense lawyer confirmed they had been jailed pending trial.
They include Serdar Altan, co-president of a journalists’ association.
The other four were released under judicial supervision.
A representative from the Turkish arm of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Erol Onderoglu, denounced the detentions as an attempt to weaken the “Kurdish political class... and deprive them of a voice” ahead of Turkey’s presidential election next year.
Turkey says it is planning to launch an offensive in northern Syria against Kurdish militants.
The HDP has already seen scores of current and former members arrested in a government crackdown that followed a failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.
Turkey’s western allies have been alarmed by the crackdown, warning that it threatens to further undermine diplomatic ties with Erdogan’s government.
Turkey ranks 149th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2022 press freedom index and is regularly criticized for muzzling press critical of the government.
Turkey remands 16 journalists on ‘terror’ charges
https://arab.news/8kjbx
Turkey remands 16 journalists on ‘terror’ charges
- The journalists worked for media aligned with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party
- The 16 were accused of “belonging to a terrorist organization,” according to the arrest document
Foreign press group welcomes Israel court deadline on Gaza access
- Supreme Court set deadline for responding to petition filed by the Foreign Press Association to Jan. 4
- Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the Strip
JERUSALEM: The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem on Sunday welcomed the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to set January 4 as the deadline for Israel to respond to its petition seeking media access to Gaza.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory.
Israel has instead allowed, on a case-by-case basis, a handful of reporters to accompany its troops into the blockaded Palestinian territory.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition to the supreme court last year, seeking immediate access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip.
On October 23, the court held a first hearing on the case, and decided to give Israeli authorities one month to develop a plan for granting access.
Since then the court has given several extensions to the Israeli authorities to come up with their plan, but on Saturday it set January 4 as a final deadline.
“If the respondents (Israeli authorities) do not inform us of their position by that date, a decision on the request for a conditional order will be made on the basis of the material in the case file,” the court said.
The FPA welcomed the court’s latest directive.
“After two years of the state’s delay tactics, we are pleased that the court’s patience has finally run out,” the association said in a statement.
“We renew our call for the state of Israel to immediately grant journalists free and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip.
“And should the government continue to obstruct press freedoms, we hope that the supreme court will recognize and uphold those freedoms,” it added.
An AFP journalist sits on the board of the FPA.
