Jailed Turkish novelist Asli Erdogan calls on Europe to stand up for its values

November 3, 2016 By administrator

asli-erdogan Turkish novelist Asli Erdogan has been in jail since August 19 for alleged links to Kurdish militants. She has written an urgent plea for European leaders to speak out against current developments in Turkey.

Dear friends, colleagues, journalists and members of the press,

I am writing this letter to you from Bakirkoy Prison, the day after “Cumhuriyet,” one of our oldest newspapers and the voice of Turkey’s social democrats, has been subjected to a police operation. More than a dozen of its writers are in custody at the moment, while four more are “wanted by police,” including Can Dundar, general director.

Even I was shocked!

This is a clear sign that Turkey has decided to disobey any law or respect any rights.

Currently, more than 130 journalists are in jail – a world record. Additionally, 170 newspapers, periodicals, and radio/TV channels have been shut down in two months. Our current government wants to monopolize “reality” and “truth.” Any opinion differing slightly from that of the rulers is violently suppressed: They are subjected to police beatings, held day and night under custody (up to 30 days), among other punishments.

I was arrested on August 19 simply because I am one of the advisors of “Ozgur Gundem,” the “Kurdish paper.” Although Press Law 11 clearly states that advisors have no legal responsibility for the paper, I haven’t yet seen a court that will listen to my story.

Along with me in this Kafkaesk trial is Necmiye Alpay, a 70-year-old linguist and translator who has also been arrested and charged with terrorism.

This letter is an urgent call!

The situation is drastic and horrifying and extremely worrisome. I believe that a totalitarian regime in Turkey will unavoidably shake all of Europe eventually.

Europe, currently concentrated on its “refugee crisis,” seems to underestimate the perils of total loss of democracy in Turkey. Now we – the writers, the journalists, the Kurdish, the Alevites and, of course, the women – are paying the heavy price for the “democracy crisis.”

Europe should assume its responsibility for the values it has defined with the blood of centuries, the values that make “Europe” a democracy with human rights, including freedom of speech and thought.

We need all your solidarity and support.

Many thanks for what you have done for us so far.

Best wishes,

Asli Erdogan

November 1, 2016

Bakirkoy Prison, C-9

Asli Erdogan, is a prominent Turkish novelist whose books have been translated into French, German, Arabic and Norwegian. She was jailed on August 19 for having alleged links with Kurdish militants. She was a member of the advisory board of the “Ozgur Gundem” daily, which was closed by court order on grounds of spreading propaganda of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Since the July 15 coup attempt, Turkey has started an operation to ostracize people with alleged links to Gulen movement, led by self-exiled US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Gulen for orchestrating the failed coup. Gulen denied any involvement.

Azerbaijani journalist accused of spying for Armenia applies for political asylum in Switzerland

November 3, 2016 By administrator

azerbaijan-journalist Azerbaijani journalist Rauf Mirkadirovapplied to the government of Switzerland for a political asylum, journalist’s lawyer, FuadAgayev, told the Caucasian Knot.

The lawyer reminded that Mirkadirov had left Azerbaijan in the middle of September of the current year in order to see his relatives, who live in Switzerland since 2014. “He could leave Azerbaijan based on a court decision on a temporary permission to leave the country on humanitarian grounds. In Switzerland, the journalist applied to the government for a political asylum,”Agayev said.

Commenting on the journalist’s appeal for the political asylum, Oktay Gulaliyev – the head of the Public Alliance Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners – reminded that Mirkadirov’s conviction is still in force in Azerbaijan. “Although the punishment is replaced with a probationary period, he can be sent to jail every moment depending on the political conjuncture,” the human rights defender stated.
According to Gulaliyev, the journalist’s wife and children are in Switzerland.

“After Mirkadirov’s arrest, his wife and two underage children remained in Turkey without any means of subsistence and under a threat of deportation. Only due to the help of international organizations, they could leave Turkey and get asylum in Switzerland. NowMirkadirovhasjoinedhisfamily,”Gulaliyevsaid.
Abstaining from other comments, the journalist confirmed the information of appealing for a politicalasylum.

Rauf Mirkadirov, columnist of Azerbaijani newspaper “Zerkalo”, was arrested on April 18 in Ankara on charges of expiration of documents. On April 19Mirkadirov was deported to Azerbaijan, where he immediately was arrested and put in custody by the MNS on suspicion of treason. On April 21 the court in Baku sanctioned his arrest for three months. Mirkadirovis accused of the cooperation with special services of Armenia; specifically he is accused of making the transfers of the state secret information, including those about the dislocation of Azerbaijani Armed forces to Armenia during 2008-2009.
In March 2016, Baku Court of Appeal handed down a judgement, according to which, Rauf Mirkadirovwas released from jail. The court applied article 70 of the Azerbaijani Criminal code and repealed the decision on the journalist’s detention. The court also replaced the punishment of 6 years of imprisonment with a probationary period of 5 years.

Meanwhile, the website of Baku bureau of Radio Liberty writes that November 4 will mark three years since the beginning of the trial against the former Azerbaijani presidential candidate IlgarMammadov. It is reminded that on March 17 2014, Mammadov – the leader of the civil movement Republican Alternative (REAL) – was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment. Since then, despite the Strasbourg court’s acquittal resolution, calls by international organizations, the Council of Europe, and public opinion, Mammadov remains in jail. “Guards and prisoners repeatedly beat him; he was placed in an isolation ward. However, the chiefs of the prison could not make him apologize and ask for mercy,” the Radio Liberty emphasizes.

According to the article, oppositionists are arrested and condemned on trumped-up charges so often in Azerbaijan that people inadvertently forget aboutMammadov. For example, the disgraced Azerbaijani diplomat ArifMammadov – Azerbaijan’s former ambassador to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and a forced immigrant based in Brussels with his family –remembered about him.
“Unfortunately, I do not see the mobilization of our society and international organizations for the release of that bright, competent politician. I think that it is necessary to daily pester the international organizations and human right groups in order to release Ilgar. Sometimes it seems like Ilgar’s imprisonment is suitable for many people, and not only the authorities,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

According to him, the REAL leader always stood out not only thanks to his intelligence and original thoughts, but also his openness, and it was so clear that his role was especially noted by the leadership of the Council of Europe.

“Incarcerating Ilgar, the authorities committed a serious crime against our nation depriving the society of a man like him. We consider IlgarMammadov, FuadGahramanli, and GiyasIbrahimov prisoners of conscience. The best sons and daughters of the country, the most literate, decent, and honest citizens of the country are currently imprisoned,”the former ambassador writes emphasizing at the same time that the current Azerbaijani society is the real “prisoner of conscience”.

Besides, in an interview with Radio Liberty, Mammadovmentioned a few details about his efforts on releasing IlgarMammadov from jail.

“In September, we raised this question in the Council of Europe. Then, the Committee of Ministers of the CoE made another decision on Mammadov’s release. The only opportunity is excluding Azerbaijan from the CoE, however, they do not want to do that. It is not a solution. If we are excluded, the citizens will be deprived of the opportunity to apply to the European Court. The official Baku’s ignoring the opinion of the CoEhits the CoE Secretary general and commissioner’s image. Everybody understands that the country should be excluded, however, on the other side, the Azerbaijani nation will most suffer from that,”Mammadov noted.

Answering to the Radio Liberty’s question about why there are no sanctions against Azerbaijan or its representatives, the expert noted that the Azerbaijani authorities pay huge amounts of money to the American lobbyist organization Podesta in order to neutralize the opportunity of sanctions.

“After the upcoming US presidential elections, something may change. I think that the US Ministry of Defense and Department of State do not want to apply sanctions yet, as the president IlhamAliyev provides for their strategic purposes,” the former diplomat said.

Turkey detains well-known Turkish journalist Kadri Gürsel that visited #ArmenianGenocide Memorial

November 1, 2016 By administrator

kadri-gursel Within the framework of operations against the opposition Cumhuriyet daily of Turkey, police also detained well-known journalist Kadri Gürsel.

At the orders of the Prosecutor’s Office, and on charges of supporting the Gülen movement and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which Turkey considers to be terrorist organizations, police detained 13 employees of Cumhuriyet, including its chief editor as well as its consultant, Kadri Gürsel, according to Milliyet daily of the country.

Gürsel has written numerous articles in favor of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. In one of his articles, Gürsel even advised the Azerbaijanis to forget about Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

And during a visit to Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia, Kadri Gürsel had laid flowers at the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

Terrorist State of Turkey detains journalist Altan hours after release

September 23, 2016 By administrator

journalist-altan ANKARA – Agence France-Presse

Turkish authorities detained prominent journalist Ahmet Altan late on Sept. 22, less than 24 hours after he was released in connection with a probe into an attempted coup on July 15.

Altan was initially freed before dawn on Sept. 22 while the Istanbul court arrested his academic brother, Professor Mehmet Altan.

But the journalist was detained again after an arrest warrant was issued late on Sept. 22.

Hours earlier, the court placed Mehmet Altan under arrest on charges of “attempting to remove the government or attempting to obstruct its work.”

He was also charged with “being a member of a terrorist organization,” referring to the movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who is accused of masterminding the failed coup attempt.

The Altan brothers were first detained on Sept. 10 and were two of the most high-profile figures detained after the coup attempt on July 15.

Their case sparked an international campaign for their release with famous writers criticizing the government.
Altan now faces the same accusations in the warrant issued prior to his detention.

His brief freedom came after almost 12 hours in court in a marathon overnight hearing.

The pair were detained over comments in a talk show on the Can Erzincan TV channel on July 14, the eve of the coup which contained “subliminal” messages that the coup was imminent.

The broadcaster, seen by the authorities as pro-Gülen, has since been shut down.

September/23/2016

Azerbaijani Activists Warn Of Rising Repression Ahead Of Referendum

September 17, 2016 By administrator

The increasing repression within the country has worried activists and some Western governments, and raised the specter of internal turmoil should simmering resentment toward elites who have enriched themselves boil over.

By RFE/RL

September 15, 2016

WASHINGTON — Activists warn that Azerbaijan’s government has stepped up repression of journalists, civil society activists, and human rights workers ahead of a key referendum, and urge the West to do more to confront Baku.

The oil-rich South Caucasus country has faced growing internal problems stemming from falling world oil prices in recent years. At the same time, longtime President Ilham Aliyev has pushed forward with a referendum scheduled for September 26 that will strengthen his authority, extend the length of presidential terms, and drop the minimum age for future presidential candidates.

Turkel Karimli, the son of jailed opposition leader Ali Karimli, told a U.S. congressional panel on September 15 that the referendum results were almost certain to be rigged, and there was a growing danger of civil unrest if the government continued to stifle dissent.

“A normal and competent government would have moved to introduce economic reforms to revitalize the public finances,” Karimli told the bipartisan panel known as the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

“But the corrupt and incompetent regime of Ilham Aliyev, facing…likely social unrest, has chosen to respond in the only way it knows — more arrests, more oppression, more terror, false imprisonment, and the systematic plan to silence the last remaining free media outlets,” he said.

“It is beyond a reasonable doubt that the upcoming reference vote will be completely rigged,” he added.

Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist who was jailed for 17 months in what was widely seen as retribution for her work for RFE/RL and other media outlets, said Azerbaijan currently had 138 people in jail considered to be political prisoners. She said several were reporters who, like herself, have documented corrupt deals connected to the Aliyev family and other top government officials.

“The country has literally become a prison,” she said, speaking via video conference from Azerbaijan, which she is currently barred from leaving after her release from prison in May.

“Those who expose corruption are punished more than those whose corruption are uncovered by journalists,” Ismayilova said. “None of us broke any law, but we broke an unspoken rule of the regime — we dare to tell the truth. What is the inconvenient truth that the government doesn’t like? It’s all about money, it’s all about corruption.”

Located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan has major oil and gas reserves that are being developed jointly with major international companies. The mainly Shi’ite Muslim country has also been a supporter of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, and the fight against the radical Islamic State militants.

But the increasing repression within the country has worried activists and some Western governments, and raised the specter of internal turmoil should simmering resentment toward elites who have enriched themselves boil over.

Richard Kauzlarich, who served as U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan in the 1990s, told the commission that the United States and other Western countries should abandon “quiet diplomacy” — raising human rights concerns discreetly — and more actively confront the Aliyev government.

He urged Washington to consider recalling its ambassador in Baku, imposing asset freezes and visa bans for officials involved in repressing journalists and activists, and curtailing U.S. government financing deals through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation or the Export Import Bank that would benefit Azerbaijani companies.

“Quiet diplomacy has not worked. Quiet diplomacy has turned political prisoners into objects to be traded,” he said.

“Active diplomacy is tough-love diplomacy, and а good relationship requires common values and confronting corruption, limits of freedom, and perpetuation of a Soviet-style command economy,” he said.

Ismayilova warned that that Azerbaijan’s internal problems could lead to an increasingly radicalized society, with dire consequences for the already tumultuous Caucasus region or elsewhere.

“Problems within Azerbaijan today could become problems for the United States tomorrow,” she said. “The United States should care for us because the last thing we want to be is to become a problem for the rest of the world.”

CPJ testifies on Turkey’s press freedom record after failed coup attempt

September 14, 2016 By administrator

Turkish journalist Can Dündar and his wife, Dilek, who had her passport confiscated in September. (Reuters/Osman Orsal)

CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova today testified before the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats Subcommittee of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, at the hearing, “Turkey after the July Coup Attempt.”

Ognianova focused on how Turkey’s crackdown on critical and independent media in Turkey has accelerated in the aftermath of a failed attempted coup on July 15, when rogue military officers tried to topple the government of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

In less than two months, authorities have detained more than 100 journalists, shut down more than 100 media outlets, censored at least 30 news websites, and stripped more than 600 members of the press of their credentials, Ognianova told the subcommittee. The scope of the purge has spread beyond the requirements of the safety and security of the Turkish state. Multiple journalists have had passports cancelled, others have been forced into exile to avoid politically motivated prosecution and imprisonment, and there have been reports of journalists being mistreated in custody. The punitive actions have been extended to journalists’ family members, including Dilek Dündar, the wife of prominent journalist and International Press Freedom Awardee Can Dündar. Turkish authorities confiscated her passport without explanation earlier this month.

In addition to highlighting Turkey’s key methods of censorship, Ognianova made recommendations to U.S. government leaders on how to affect positive change. “While it is important to condemn the coup attempt of July 15, we strongly urge Turkey’s international partners, specifically the United States, to condemn the continuing purge of opposition and independent media that has followed the attempted coup,” she said.

Ognianova urged the U.S. not to honor Turkish arrest warrants issued for journalists in the post-coup purge, and to encourage other countries to also not honor the warrants.

To read CPJ’s full testimony and recommendations, click here.

I’m a journalist on the run from Erdoğan – I have no idea what I’ve done Yavuz Baydar

September 3, 2016 By administrator

A municipal worker covers graffiti near the pro-Kurdish Özgür Gündem newspaper’s Istanbul headquarters in June. Photograph: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images

The arrest of over 100 journalists and exile of others is a clear crackdown on criticism of the president. What has happened to my beloved Turkey?

The long wait, filled with anxiety, is at last over. Very early on Tuesday morning, I was woken up by another alarming ring on my phone; it is part of the routine these days as the ordeal continues for journalists in Turkey. It was a text message from the doorman of my apartment block in Istanbul. “Mr Yavuz, police entered your flat a short while ago with the help of a locksmith. They did not damage or take anything during the search. Told us about an arrest warrant for you.”

Slightly relieved that at least the raid had been conducted in the correct fashion, I called my wife, who was at the Aegean coast, and had just woken up. One can imagine how shocked she was about this intrusion into our privacy. I wasn’t. I’m fully aware that a consequence of the botched coup is the nullifying of whatever remains of dignified journalism in Turkey.

Having seen the targeting of 72 year old Şahin Alpay (one of Turkey’s most powerful, dignified, consistent liberal columnists) and Lale Kemal (a veteran reporter, known for her stories for Jane’s Defence Weekly, sent to jail for their independent professional stands) I knew one day it would be my turn.

In the days preceding this clampdown, there were clear signs of a brutal escalation of the attacks on our freedom and diversity. After the recent closure of pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem and the arrests of intellectuals such as author Aslı Erdoğan, police raided another Kurdish paper, Azadiya Welat, in Diyarbakır, and rounded up 27 Kurdish staff. In addition, 36 workers at the state broadcaster TRT were detained and sent to jail.

We had begun the week with immense pressure on us, sending private messages to each other in the industry: “Just be careful.” What else could we do, vulnerable as we are and abandoned by European politicians?

I learned on Tuesday morning that Murat Aksoy was among those arrested. Murat, a commentator in print and TV with social democrat leanings – who has never hidden his Alevi roots – is not only a journalist, but also had recently been recruited as press adviser to CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. In those same early morning hours I learned that the house of Ali Yurttagül, not far from where I live by Bosporus, had also been raided. Ali was a columnist, like myself, with the English language Today’s Zaman, until it was brutally seized and shut last spring. He has been a respected adviser – as a member of the Dutch Green movement – to the European parliament on Turkish affairs for decades.

Soon I read the news story of a fresh roundup: 35 journalists were being hunted that day. A new list of “public enemies” was issued. It included my name. By Tuesday night, we knew that at least nine of those on the list had been taken into custody, which means up to 30 days under arbitrary confinement, according to emergency regulations. Why was all this happening?

That evening, all efforts with my lawyer shed no light on what was going on. I still have no idea, at the time of writing this, what I am accused of – because, as my lawyer told me: “All the files in this sweep are classified.”

It may look like a puzzle to the reader, but we all know by now what this destructive pattern of targeting journalist means, it has been clear since as early as the Gezi park protests. The logic of the clampdown is plain and straightforward. The Turkish government, ruled strictly by President Erdoğan, is keen to fill the agenda with what it sees as “domestic enemies”, called terrorists. Large chunks of the Turkish media have therefore been branded as such, just because it is seen as affiliated to the Gülen movement, and almost the entirety of the Kurdish media is seen as serving the interests of the PKK.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/02/journalist-erdogan-arrests-turkey-crackdown-criticism-president?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Iraqi Kurdistan: Kurdish Journalist Abducted, Killed, repeated interrogations by the KRG’s

August 26, 2016 By administrator

Wedad Hussein Ali, 28, a Kurdish journalist who was abducted in Dohuk on August 13, 2016 and later found dead.
© 2016 Private

Threatened by Security Forces Over His Reporting

(Dohuk) – An Iraqi Kurdish journalist who had been threatened by security services was abducted and found dead on August 13, 2016. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) should ensure a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into the killing of Wedad Hussein Ali, 28, who was allegedly affiliated with the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Witnesses described his apparent kidnapping by unknown assailants, who claimed to be Kurdish security forces, following repeated interrogations by the KRG’s Asayish political police forces over the past 12 months about his writings critical of Kurdish authorities.

“The KRG should provide serious answers about how it came to be that this journalist was kidnapped and killed in broad daylight, following repeated interrogations by Asayish forces,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “He is one of dozens of journalists in KRG territory who have been killed, beaten, detained, or harassed.”

In 2015, the METRO Center to Defend the Rights of Journalists, a Kurdistan journalism rights advocacy group, documented 145 cases of attacks on journalists that year including arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and unlawful killing. In 2011, following large public protests in the region, journalists faced attacks and threats, including from the security forces. In March 2011, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 20 journalists, who said that security forces and their proxies routinely threatened, arbitrarily arrested, beat, and harassed journalists, and confiscated and destroyed their equipment.

Tariq Hussein Ali, 40, told Human Rights Watch that his brother Wedad was an accredited journalist for the pro-PKK RojNews, and also worked in the cultural office of the Dohuk governorate, part of Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

Two of Wedad Hussein Ali’s friends told Human Rights Watch that he had spent time in PKK camps two years ago, though not as a fighter. Over the last months, Asayish officers had taken Wedad in for questioning three times about his role supporting the PKK and his work as a journalist.

One of his friends said he saw a text message with a death threat on Wedad’s phone. Wedad told him the threat came from a man who he believed worked for Parastin, intelligence forces for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, one of the governing parties in the region.

Tariq Hussein Ali said that his brother told him in July that the Asayish had detained him and ordered him either to leave the paper or provide intelligence from inside the publication. “Otherwise we will stop you,” his brother said they threatened. Tariq Hussein Ali said his brother said he had been beaten and that his ribs and shoulders were covered in dark bruises and he could not walk for 10 days after the interrogation.

Wedad ignored their threats and continued his work, his brother said, including publishing articles and Facebook posts alleging corruption within the KRG. He also wrote Facebook posts criticizing Kurdistan Democratic Party forces for abandoning the Yezidi community when the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, took over the area where they lived, killing and abducting thousands of Yezidis. Another friend said that the journalist had told him that he was in danger if he stayed in the Dohuk area.

On August 13, at 8:45 a.m., Wedad Hussein Ali dropped another brother, Sardar, 35, at the construction site where he worked near a marketplace in the Malta neighborhood of Dohuk. Sardar Hussein Ali said that 15 minutes later, he saw large crowds gathering and police cars arriving at the marketplace. He saw his brother’s empty car in the middle of the road.

A police officer told him that unidentified men had detained his brother. Another man told him he saw two unmarked cars cut off his brother’s car, and that three men inside had dragged his brother out, hooded him, forced him into one of the cars at gunpoint, and drove off in the direction of the highway. The witness said the men told Wedad they were security forces, arresting him because he had “an accident with children.” The witness said he noted the make and license numbers of both cars.

Sardar Hussein Ali said that police officers took him and the witness to the police station, questioned them and another brother, Darban, who joined them, and promised to view footage from security cameras in the shop the witness had left before the abduction. The witness later posted the details of what he had seen on Facebook, a screenshot of which Human Rights Watch reviewed. The post began with, “After I post this, maybe someone will find my body in the city street.” Four days later the witness took down the post. The Hussein Ali family said that since then his profile has been inactive and they have tried unsuccessfully to contact him.

At about 10:45 a.m., as the brothers were driving home, Darban Hussein Ali said, a policeman he knows called him to say that someone from his family was at the Azadi Hospital in Dohuk. The family went to the hospital and found Wedad’s body in the morgue. He said they asked the investigative judge in the hospital how the body got there and were told that police from Semmel, a city west of Dohuk, found it dumped on the side of the road.

Photographs of Wedad’s body, taken by his family at the morgue, that Human Rights Watch reviewed, show lacerations, abrasions, and contusions of the head, torso, and extremities. The pattern of bruising and lesions suggests they may have been caused by a blunt long cylindrical object, such as a bat or baton, a doctor who reviewed the photos said.

A senior Semmel police officer told Human Rights Watch on August 18 that they were looking into the case but had no update on the progress of the investigation.

At least two other journalists have been murdered in the KRI. Kawa Garmiani, from the town of Kalar, was shot dead on December 5, 2013, after threatening to expose corruption. Garmiani’s lawyer said that in 2014, a court sentenced Twana Khalifa, who was allegedly affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan political party, to death for Garmiani’s murder, but an appellate court reduced the sentence to life in prison. Soran Mama Hama, a journalist in Kirkuk, was killed on July 21, 2008, after receiving threats about a report he planned to publish on alleged police complicity in the city’s sex work. No one has been arrested for his death.

A number of journalists, including Sherwan Sherwan and Sabah al-Atrushi, are facing prosecution for their reporting. Isa Barzani, a retired fighter for the Kurdish Peshmerga security forces, whose Facebook posts were critical of President Masoud Barzani, was arrested on August 4, 2015, by the Parastin and held for six months, then released and barred from travelling outside the KRI.

The KRG should establish an independent investigation into Wedad Hussein Ali’s death, particularly in light of the implication of Kurdish security forces. Police should immediately release the video showing his kidnapping, as well as the report of the police who allegedly found his body.

“The authorities’ failure to prevent attacks on journalists not only denies them justice, but has a chilling effect on what they can report,” Whitson said. “The authorities should show they are actively and aggressively hunting for the culprits of this crime, and not just promising yet another bottomless investigation.”

Sarah Leah Whitson

Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/08/25/iraqi-kurdistan-kurdish-journalist-abducted-killed

Turkey: 43 journalists arrested, while 100 with detention warrants some 74,562 passports were canceled

August 14, 2016 By administrator

43-journalist Some 43 journalists have been arrested as part a probe into the July coup attempt, while the number of detention warrants issued against professionals exceeded 100, according to a journalism association.

The Istanbul-based Platform for Independent Journalism (P24) said that with the Aug. 11 arrest of now-closed daily Zaman correspondent Ayşenur Parıldak, the number of arrested journalists with alleged links to the coup attempt rose to 43.

Some 10 days after the deadly attempt, detention warrants had been issued against 42 journalists as a part of ongoing investigations against members of the Fethullahist Organization (FETÖ).

Meanwhile some 42 employees of TRT, whose names and titles were not disclosed, were detained on Aug. 11, with sources saying anchors of the channel were also included in the list.

Amid arrests and detentions issued against journalists, authorities have also been imposing travel bans on media personnel, as the Prime Ministry’s Media Press and Information General Directorate (BYEGM) announced on Aug. 11 that based on a July 23 order of the Police Department, journalists holding grey service passports should receive a report from the BYEGM allowing their overseas travels in order to travel abroad.

According to official numbers, meanwhile, some 74,562 passports were canceled as part of the coup attempt investigations and reports emerged that some 200 journalists had been barred from entering the Turkish parliament.

The platform also said 13 journalists had been detained and five had been arrested, mostly from Kurdish media outlets, since July 15 independent from the coup attempt investigations.

August/14/2016

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/43-journalists-arrested-while-100-with-detention-warrants-after-turkeys-coup-attempt.aspx?pageID=238&nID=102821&NewsCatID=341

Terrorist State of Turkey Police seized passport of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hayko Bagdat

August 8, 2016 By administrator

After Turkish-Armenian journalist Hayko Bagdat’s arrival in Istanbul airport the police immediately seized his passport.

The author of the Diken edition told Agos newspaper that the police officers took away his passport, without giving any explanation. They have only declared that they would inform him about the reasons of such action one of these days. According to the reporter, in the next few days the Armenian deputies Garo Palyan and Selina Dogan will demand explanations in the Turkish Parliament.

One of the Turkish Internet users has recently written that Hayko Bagdat is suspected of having links to Fethullah Gülen, however, the journalist called this statement absurd.