Articles by Initiative for Freedom of Expression – Turkey
Editor’s release from prison postponed for years to come
A certificate indicating the “date of expiration” of Erdal Güler’s sentence shows that the editor’s release is not scheduled for the near future.
“Atilim” newspaper closed down five times in 2009
An Istanbul court stopped the publication of the newspaper for one month after it published an interview with the co-president of the Democratic Society Party.
Twenty-three IFEX members and other organisations raise concerns about proposed mechanisms to combat racial intolerance
23 IFEX members and other organisations call for the defeat of proposed legal mechanisms and say that attempts to address racial or religious hatred should conform to standards of international law.
“Alternatif” newspaper accused of violating press law, shut down for one month
(Antenna-TR/IFEX) – The Istanbul High Criminal Court No. 9 has seized copies of “Alternatif” newspaper and has suspended its publication for one month. The paper, which began publishing in May 2008, is accused of violating Article 25/2 of the Press Law for “publishing the statements of the PKK/KONGRA-GEL organisation”. The court deemed that two of […]
Writer imprisoned, he and publisher facing other charges, over book on women’s suffering
(Antenna-TR/IFEX) – A writer has been imprisoned over a book about women, and he and his publisher are also facing additional charges over the same book. Two sets of criminal charges were filed over the book “Language of Suffering: Woman”, written by Murat Coskun and published by Peri publishers in January 2002. One of the […]
Kliptube video-sharing website blocked; newspaper confiscated, Gundem website blocked for coverage of PKK
(Antenna-TR/IFEX) – Another video-sharing website, Kliptube.com, has been blocked, as the YouTube.com and Dailymotion sites have been. YouTube.com, the biggest video-sharing website, has been blocked in Turkey for three months. Since the beginning of August 2008, access to Dailymotion.com has been blocked too. There is no information as to when and why the Kliptube site […]
Antenna-TR’s website hacked by group claiming to “defend the Turkish Republic”
(Antenna-TR/IFEX) – On 24 July 2008, the Anniversary of the Elimination of Censorship, Antenna-TR’s website, http://www.antenna-tr.org , and the civil society website http://www.ortakpayda.org were hacked by a group calling itself “Atabeyler”. Antenna-TR denounced the incident as an attack on free expression. The organisation had recently spoken out on its website against the blocking of the […]
Worker imprisoned for reading poem at International Women’s Day celebration
(Antenna-TR/IFEX) – Mehmet Pekinoglu, a worker, recited a poem by Nazim Hikmet, “The Ballad of those who Drink the Sun”, at the International Women’s Day celebrations in Adana’s Inönü park. Police officers recorded the celebrations and raided Pekinoglu’s house on 30 April 2008 for “making propaganda” for the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), a left-wing […]