Turkey

(CPJ/IFEX) – After serving nearly 32 months in prison for his newspaper’s critical coverage of Turkey’s ongoing conflict with Kurdish insurgents, editor Ocak Isik Yurtcu was freed from Saray Prison on 15 August 1997, one day after Turkey’s parliament unanimously passed an amnesty law allowing for the release of several jailed editors. **Updates IFEX press […]

The trial of forty-eight police officers accused of the murder of journalist Metin Goktepe in Istanbul on 8 January 1996 began on 18 October in Aydin. However, the delegation from Reporters sans frontieres (RSF) present at the trial has serious concerns regarding the conditions in which the hearings will take place. **Updates IFEX alerts dated […]

A trial against Turkish writer and vice secretary-general of the Human Rights Association of Turkey Erol Anar began on 22 August 1996. Anar, author of “Insan Haklar Tarihi” (“The History of Human Rights”), is charged with “separatist propaganda” under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law for a four-page chapter in the book entitled “Kurt Sorunu” […]

**Updates IFEX alerts dated 30, 12 and 9 January 1996** On 15 July 1996, a delegation from RSF attended the opening in Istanbul of the trial of the policemen accused of beating journalist Metin Goktepe to death on 8 January 1996. The trial was transferred to the city of Aydin, some 400 miles from Istanbul, […]

On the afternoon of 15 July 1996, police officers beat five photographers and reporters who were covering a demonstration against police brutality held in front of the office of the Governor of Istanbul. According to eyewitness accounts, policemen intentionally targeted journalists, beating them and breaking their cameras. Several reporters fled the police and took shelter […]

Human Rights Watch is concerned at reports that several lawyers and administrators from the Istanbul Branch of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (HRA) as well as families of prisoners were detained on 7 June 1996, while trying to send a telegram dealing with prison conditions and reform to the Minister of Justice. The incident […]

**For background to previous harassment of “Evrensel”, see IFEX alerts dated 23 and 10 April 1996** On 31 May 1996, police confiscated copies of the 1 June issue of the leftist weekly “Aydinlik” as it was being printed. This was the second consecutive confiscation; previously, on 24 May, police seized the 25 May issue. The […]

On 15 May 1996, writer and journalist Dr Haluk Gerger was sentenced by an Istanbul court to 20 months in prison and fined T 500,000 (approximately US$ 6) for an article published in the 30 June 1995 edition of the leftist daily “Evrensel” on the state of emergency in southeast Turkey. In the same trial, […]

On 23 May 1996 at approximately 12:30 hours, Istanbul police arrested Finnish Broadcasting Company journalist Leena Reikko. Reikko was arrested along with her cameraman, Kemal Gokakan, and two Kurdish refugees she was interviewing. They were held for questioning and released at 18:00 hours. Police confiscated the videotape of the interview. Recommended Action Send appeals to […]

On 22 May 1996, Irsan Kurt, a journalist for the leftist daily “Evrensel”, was arrested by Istanbul police. He was apprehended while making his way in a car to a press conference in the Alibeykoy district of Istanbul. The driver of the car stated that they were stopped at a roadblock allegedly set up by […]

On 3 May 1996, four journalists–Sabiha Budak, Incigul Basel, Mehtap Kurucay and Filiz Ozturk, all female–from the leftist weekly “Alinteri” were arrested and later detained by Istanbul police. The police arrested the journalists at the home of Budak, assaulting them in the process. Basel was later transferred to the intensive care unit of a nearby […]

**For background to previous harassment of “Atilim”, see IFEX alerts dated 26, 21 and 19 March 1996** On 18 April 1996, a court ordered the leftist weekly “Atilim” closed for one month. A previous one-month closure order expired the same day. The latest order, issued under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, is connected to […]

**For background to previous closures of “Evrensel”, see IFEX alert dated 10 April 1996** On 18 April 1996, Istanbul State Security Court ordered the leftist daily “Evrensel” closed for ten days for publishing the statement of a terrorist organization, a violation of Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law. The charge stems from an article published […]

On 9 April 1996, Istanbul State Security Court ordered the leftist daily “Evrensel” shut down for one month for having published two articles on 30 August 1995. The first one, entitled “Special Forces Execution in Midyat,” was ruled to have incited racism, which is in violation of Article 312 of the Penal Code. The second […]

**For background on “Ozgur Ulke” and “Ozgur Gundem”, see IFEX alerts dated 9 April, 7, 3 February 1995 and others** The pro-Kurdish daily “Yeni Politika” was subjected to a de facto ban on 16 August 1995. The Istanbul Criminal Court found that “Yeni Politika” is a successor to “Ozgur Gundem” and “Ozgur Ulke”, two other […]

Sabahat Varol, a journalist with the magazine “Devrimci Genclik” and Ahmet Duzgun Yuksel, a lawyer, are being held in Istanbul Police headquarters, where Amnesty International (AI) fears they may be facing torture in incommunicado detention. The two were detained on 20 June 1995 as they were leaving the Halkin Hukuk Burosu, People’s Law Office, in […]