Turkey is surprisingly one of the most repressive places for journalists to operate thanks to a government which views reporters as the enemy. That is not close to hyperbole either.
Journalists in Turkish jails declined to 40 from 49 the previous year, as some were freed pending trial. Others benefited from new legislation that allowed defendants in lengthy pre-trial detentions to be released for time served. Additional journalists were freed after CPJ had completed its census on December 1. Still, authorities are holding dozens of Kurdish journalists on terror-related charges and others for allegedly participating in anti-government plots. Broadly worded anti-terror and penal code statutes allow Turkish authorities to conflate the coverage of banned groups with membership, according to CPJ research.
List of arrested journalists
Rape threats
Turkey's government wants the world to believe that it is functioning elective representative government which seeks membership in the EU and respects human rights but the reality is far removed from the governments narrative.
Journalists in Turkish jails declined to 40 from 49 the previous year, as some were freed pending trial. Others benefited from new legislation that allowed defendants in lengthy pre-trial detentions to be released for time served. Additional journalists were freed after CPJ had completed its census on December 1. Still, authorities are holding dozens of Kurdish journalists on terror-related charges and others for allegedly participating in anti-government plots. Broadly worded anti-terror and penal code statutes allow Turkish authorities to conflate the coverage of banned groups with membership, according to CPJ research.
List of arrested journalists
| Name | Media | Position | Date arrested | Status | Background info | Pictures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdulcebbar Karabeğ | Azadiya Welat | correspondent in Mersin | 2010-09-26 | Released on 2012-11-02[4] | detained at the closed prison of Hatay | |
| Abdullah Çetin | Dicle Haber Ajansı | correspondent in Kurtalan | 2011-12-16 | Arrested | detained at the D-Type prison in Diyarbakır | |
| Ahmet Akyol | Dicle Haber Ajansı | correspondent in Adana | 2011-05-09 | Arrested | detained at the M-Type prison in Ceyhan, Adana | |
| Ahmet Birsin | Gün TV | general coordinator | 2009-04-14 | Arrested | detained at the D-Type prison in Diyarbakır | |
| Ali Konar | Azadiya Welat | correspondent in Elazig | 2010-05-27 | Arrested | detained at the E-Type prison in Malatya | |
| Ayşe Oyman | Özgür Gündem | editor | 2011-12-24 | Arrested | detained at the L-Type women prison in Bakırköy,Istanbul | |
| Aziz Tekin | Azadiya Welat | correspondent in Mardin | 2012-01-29 | Arrested | detained at the E-Type prison in Mardin | |
| Bayram Namaz | Atılım | writer | 2006-09-10 | Arrested | detained at the F-Type prison in Edirne | |
| Bedri Adanır | Aram Yayınları, Hawar | general director | 2010-01-08 | Released on 2012-11-27[6] | detained during 689 days at the D-Type prison inDiyarbakır | |
| Cengiz Kapmaz | Özgür Gündem | writer | 2011-11-26 | Arrested | detained at the F-Type prison in Kandira | |
| Çağdaş Kaplan | Dicle Haber Ajansı | correspondent in Istanbul | 2011-12-20 | Arrested | detained at the F-Type prison in Kandira | |
| Davut Uçar | Etik Ajans | director | 2011-12-24 | Arrested | detained at the F-Type prison in Kandira | |
| Deniz Yıldırım | 2009-11-09 | Arrested | ||||
| Derek Stoffel | CBC News | journalist | 2013-06-12 | Released on 2013-06-12[7] |
"The police were just behind us. The first tear gas they threw hit me. I clutched my head. Blood was pouring out."
Ahmet Sik is a widely respected, well-known investigative journalist in Turkey. He recalls the day he got injured while covering the protests in Istanbul's Gezi Park this summer. He is convinced that he was targeted by the police.
"There were at most 10 metres between us," he says.
"A gas bomb that's thrown by hand hits me directly on the head. The people who were hospitalised just after me were: a pro-Kurdish opposition MP, a main opposition MP and the journalist who took the iconic picture of a woman in red dress being tear-gassed. This can't all be coincidence."
Rape threats
I had been sent by the BBC from London to cover the protests in Istanbul and I tweeted a comment from one protester calling for an economic boycott for six months to get the government to listen.
Later, the quote was ascribed to me by the mayor of the Turkish capital, Ankara, as if I had had been the one calling for a boycott.
He started a Twitter campaign against me, calling me a British agent and a traitor and called on his more than 700,000 followers to show their "democratic reaction". Thousands of death and rape threats followed.
Two days later, Mr Erdogan accused me in a speech of "being involved in a conspiracy against my own country".
The threats and the hate campaign against me have fizzled out but, months later, some journalists in Turkey are still being intimidated by officials.
Turkey's government wants the world to believe that it is functioning elective representative government which seeks membership in the EU and respects human rights but the reality is far removed from the governments narrative.
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