Jailed journalists in Turkey say arrest aimed at gagging press

Jailed Turkish journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, accused of spying and helping a terrorist group, have told Reuters in a faxed message from prison that their arrest was designed to send a warning to journalists. 

Can Dündar, editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper, and its senior editor Erdem Gül were arrested on Nov. 26 over the publication of footage purporting to show Turkey's National Intelligence Agency (M?T) helping send weapons to Syria. 

The issue of Turkey's involvement in Syria is particularly sensitive as the NATO member comes under pressure to take a more active role in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants there. President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has cast the newspaper's coverage as part of a bid to undermine Turkey's standing on the world stage. 

"Our arrest is a clear message aimed at the press, saying: 'Don't write.' This is a direct drive at self-censorship," the two journalists said in a handwritten fax, cleared by a prison committee that reads inmates' correspondence. 

A senior government official denied there was any political agenda behind the investigation and said it was purely a legal matter. "There is an open breach of law. Such criticism of the government is unacceptable," the official said. 

The detention of the two journalists sparked protests in Turkey as well as condemnation from U.S. and European Union officials, concerned that Erdo?an and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government are silencing critical voices and exerting too much influence over courts after winning an outright majority in a Nov. 1 election. 

Erdo?an is a vital partner for both Washington and the EU in efforts to combat ISIL, end Syria's civil war and curb the flow of...