US urges Turkey to meet democratic values on the arrest of VICE journalists

The United States State Department has voiced its concern over the arrest of two British journalists and their translator in the southeastern province of Diyarbak?r, urging Turkey to revise its actions to match up with democratic values.

A Diyarbak?r court ruled for the arrest of VICE journalists Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury and their translator Muhammed Ismail Aug. 31 on charges of "engaging in terror activity" on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said the actions of Turkish authorities should correspond to universal democratic values as well as freedom of expression.

"Freedom of expression, including for journalists, and due process are key elements in every healthy democracy and are enshrined, in fact, in the Turkish constitution as well as Turkey's OSCE commitments and Turkey's international human rights obligations. So as Turkey's friend and NATO ally, we urge Turkish authorities to ensure their actions uphold universal democratic values, including due process, freedom of expression, as well as access to media and information," Toner said.

Turkish police detained Hanrahan and Pendlebury along with Ismail on Aug. 28 in the Ba?lar district of Diyarbak?r, where they were filming clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants.

On Aug. 31, international rights organizations, including Amnesty International, PEN International and the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), demanded an immediate release of the journalists.

Kevin Sutcliffe, the head of VICE's news programming in Europe, also condemned the charges against its journalists, calling them "baseless and alarmingly false."

"Today the Turkish...