editor Archives

Terrorist State of Turkey takes editor Murat Sabuncu of opposition newspaper ‘Cumhuriyet’ into custody

October 31, 2016 by administrator

Turkish police have detained the editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper “Cumhuriyet” following a series of raids. The government launched a wide-reaching crackdown on its critics in the wake of a July coup attempt.

The “Cumhuriyet” newspaper said on Monday that its editor, Murat Sabuncu, was detained along with columnist Guray Oz after raids on their homes.

The paper also said police were searching for the head of its executive board, Akin Atalay. In total, 13 arrest warrants were issued for journalists and executives from the daily, according to CNN Turk.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said Sabuncu was being held as part of “an investigation,” without providing details.

The detentions come as opposition parties and human rights groups allege that Turkey is using a state of emergency to clamp down on all dissenting voices. The state of emergency was introduced after a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by a rogue section of the military in July. Since then, more than 100 media outlets have been shut down and dozens of journalists detained as part of a massive crackdown on opposition elements.

Opposition targeted

Ankara accuses those targeted of being affiliated with US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it blames for the attempted putsch. Gulen has denied any involvement.

In a statement, the government said the operation against Cumhuriyet was launched over its alleged “activities on behalf of” the Gulen movement and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“Cumhuriyet”‘s former editor-in-chef Can Dundar was sentenced to five years in prison earlier this year for revealing state secrets after publishing reports about alleged Turkish arms shipments to Syrian rebels. Dundar, who now lives in Germany, was sentenced along with the paper’s Ankara correspendent, Erdem Gul.

The left-leaning secular publication, one of Turkey’s oldest newspapers, is often highly critical of the ruling conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP). It was awarded this year’s Right Livelihood Award.

rc,nm/tj (AFP, AP, dpa)

Turkish newspaper editor in court for ‘espionage’ after revealing weapon convoy to Syrian militants

November 26, 2015 by administrator

A Turkish prosecutor asked a court to imprison the editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper pending trial for espionage and treason. In May, the outlet published photos of weapons it said were then transferred to Syria by Turkey’s intelligence agency.

Besides the editor, Can Dündar, the prosecution said it is seeking the same pre-trial restrictions for Cumhuriyet’s representative in Ankara, Erdem Gül.

Dündar arrived at an Istanbul court on Thursday, saying that he and his colleague “came here to defend journalism.”

“We came here to defend the right of the public to obtain the news and their right to know if their government is feeding them lies. We came here to show and to prove that governments cannot engage in illegal activity and defend this,” Dündar was cited by Today’s Zaman.

The articles, published on Cumhuriyet’s front page in May, claimed that Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) is smuggling weapons in trucks into Syria and was caught doing so twice in 2014. The trucks were allegedly stopped and searched by police, with photos and videos of their contents obtained by Cumhuriyet.

According to the paper, the trucks were carrying six steel containers, with 1,000 artillery shells, 50,000 machine gun rounds, 30,000 heavy machine gun rounds and 1,000 mortar shells. The arms were reportedly delivered to extremist groups fighting against the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad, whom Ankara wants ousted from power.

The Turkish authorities denied the allegations, saying that the trucks were carrying aid to Syrian ethnic Turkmen tribespeople and labeled their interception an act of “treason” and “espionage.”

Condolences Sarkis Seropyan, editor of Agos newspaper, has died

March 29, 2015 by administrator

Sarkis Seropyan

Founding member of the Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos with Hrant Dink (5 April 1996), Sarkis Seropyan died at age 80 of a heart attack, Saturday, March 28, 2015. He was born in Istanbul in 1935.

First mechanic refrigerators is after writing for newspapers and concocted notes of trips he co-founded Agos in order to create a bridge between Armenians and develop culture, lamenting the disappearance progressive of the Armenian language. He was responsible for Armenian language pages.

On 19 January 2007, Sarkis Seropyan had heard of his three shots that killed Dink office. Jokingly he then told his colleagues rushed to the window, “They do not go shooting?” Without knowing what had happened.

After the assassination of Hrant Dink, Agos had received financial assistance to edit a special issue N that will be sold over 50,000 copies. The Agos usual draft of between 7,000 and 9,000 copies.

In 2007, after being charged with the editor Aris Nalci for their article “smart board” published November 9, 2007 in Agos in which they criticized the decision against Hrant Dink on the basis of Article 301 for insulting the state, they will eventually be paid June 18, 2008.

In his heart humanist Sarkis Seropyan always thought that the borders between Turkey and Armenia would eventually open.

Our deepest condolences to his family, his relatives and drafting of Agos.