Turkish Forum

Tag: journalist

  • Turkey’s War on Journalists

    Turkey’s War on Journalists

    As Prime Minister Erdogan’s government grows increasingly intolerant of dissent, the media is bearing the brunt of its effort to silence its critics.

    BY ALIA MALEK

    When the terrorism trial of jailed Turkish journalists Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener began in Istanbul on Nov. 22, only a handful of their colleagues — far fewer than expected — gathered in protest outside the courthouse that will decide their fate.

    A mosaic of the smiling photographs of many of Turkey’s detained journalists was laid out on the ground at the foot of a swarm of TV tripods, their cameras aiming for a glimpse of the defendants. Sik and Sener’s case is perhaps the most high-profile example of what critics see as the Turkish government’s crackdown on critical voices, which has transformed it into one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists.

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    Some of the protesters wore T-shirts with a cartoon of a hand covering the mouth of someone trying to speak. Others carried signs written in English and Turkish. “TURKEY SET JOURNALISTS FREE; THERE CAN BE NO FREE SOCIETY WITHOUT FREE JOURNALISM,” read the centerpiece.

    Only one prominent columnist from the mainstream daily Haber Turk, Ece Temelkuran, was willing to risk joining those outside the courthouse. Already that morning, a colleague dropped by her office to tell her he was too afraid to go. He had moved his wife and children abroad and will join them as soon as he can.

    “I too am afraid,” Temelkuran admitted, eyeing the size of the crowd. “I’m freaking out.” Having written repeatedly against what she sees as a crackdown on those who oppose AKP or Erdogan, she keeps a lawyer on stand-by should she be summoned.

    Indeed, during the demonstration several people approached Temelkuran, a recognizable public figure, and said, “Next time, we’ll be here for you.”

    Sik and Sener have been detained since March, on charges that seemed at first too ludicrous to stand. They are accused of being members of Ergenekon, a shadowy, ultranationalist group that allegedly has been trying to foment a coup against the Turkish government – despite the fact that Sik is known in Turkey for having written the definitive exposé on the group.

    Sik’s supporters believe he ran afoul of the Turkish justice system when he began to investigate the influence of the Fethullah Gulen movement, a powerful Islamist network that is one of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most important pillars of support. Sener’s research into the murder of the Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink — which asserted that the police and the state were involved in his killing — touched on another of Turkey’s taboo subjects.

    Sik and Sener’s detention are hardly an anomaly in today’s Turkey. Currently, 76 Turkish journalists are in jail, more than in any other country. In a Dec. 20, roundup, several more journalists were among those newly detained when the Turkish government jailed roughly 40 people, accusing them of links to Kurdish militants.

    In addition to journalists, Erdogan’s government has jailed lawyers, academics, and students, also ostensibly on terrorism-related charges that critics counter are transparent attempts to stifle freedom of expression and dissent.

    The arrests, however, have yet to shock the conscience of most Turks. In June, voters returned Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) to power in a landslide. The current narrative that dominates discussion about Turkey — both internationally and domestically — emphasizes its booming economy and regional ascendance. For admirers in the Arab world, the AKP’s devout orientation represents a path they seek to emulate. And for those in the West concerned by Arab Islamist parties’ success at the ballot box, Erdogan’s party is a comforting model for reconciling piety and democracy. Similarly, with the United States eyeing an opportunity to weaken Iran’s influence in the region, specifically in Syria, Turkey has become ever more strategically important.

    With Turkey and Erdogan basking in the glow of such electoral and international approval, watch-groups and critics say AKP feels entitled to have an equally friendly media and public at home.

    via Turkey’s War on Journalists – By Alia Malik | Foreign Policy.

  • Spy movie tussle with Israeli security services by journalist in shoot to kill inquiry

    Spy movie tussle with Israeli security services by journalist in shoot to kill inquiry

    by Mark Weiss in Jerusalem

    The Israeli journalist forced into exile in London after the military launched an investigation into leaked documents has said his life now resembles a “spy movie.”

    Uri Blau, who acquired 2,000 military documents, including 700 classified as ‘top secret’, claimed in an article for the Haaretz newspaper that he was scared to leave Britain to return home where he faces the threat of arrest.

    A Tel Aviv court lifted a gag order on Tuesday over a case against Anat Kam, a 23-year old female soldier who has been charged with national security offences for passing the documents revealing the military targetted assasination policy to Mr Blau.

    Mr Blau claimed he was being targeted by the Israeli authorities for doing his job as an investigative journalist.

    “When I left Israel I had no reason to believe our planned trip would suddenly turn into a spy movie whose end is not clear,” he wrote. “I certainly didn’t think I’d have to stay in London and wouldn’t be able to return to Tel Aviv as a journalist and a free man, only because I published reports that were inconvenient to the establishment.”

    Mr Blau said he decided to stay abroad after hearing that his Tel Aviv apartment had been broken into, and being informed that his telephone and e mails were being monitored. “Experiences I had read about in suspense novels have become my reality in recent months,” he said. “When you’re warned “they know much more than you think,” and are told that your telephone line, e-mail and computer have been monitored for a long time and still are, then someone up there doesn’t really understand what democracy is all about, and the importance of freedom of the press in preserving it.”

    The reporter received the classified documents from Anat Kam, who served at the army’s Central Command headquarters, and who has been under house arrest since December.

    Talks between Mr Blau and Israeli intelligence, whereby he would hand over all the documents in his procession, broke down last week. Each side has accused the other of reneging on the terms of the agreement.

    Mr Blau is now wanted for questioning by both the Israeli police and the security services.

    Yuval Diskin , head of the Shin Bet security agency , warned that “the kid gloves will now be taken off” as the intelligence community steps up its efforts to retrieve the sensitive information.

    The stolen documents include details of Israeli troop deployments and contingency plans for emergencies. Israeli media reported that the operational plans for Israel’s invasion of Gaza last winter were altered because the original blueprint was amongst the top secret information transferred to Blau.

    Miss Kam, who goes on trial next week ,will be charged with espionage, an offense which carries a maximum life sentence. Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu , who was tried on similar charges , served 18 years in prison.

    The Telegraph