Ali Bulaç

Turkey's Constitutional Court has rejected the individual appeals of journalists Nazlı Ilıcak and Ahmet Altan on May 3, finding no rights violations in their lawsuits filed for aiding the plotters of a 2016 failed coup attempt, while ruling for a violation of rights in the case of Ali Bulaç, a former columnist of closed Zaman newspaper.

The 26th Istanbul Criminal Court on Sept. 19 rejected demands to release a group of journalists and writers who have been in jail for more than a year, in a case into the "media leg" of the Gülen network.

The arrest of journalists is quite a big problem in democratic societies since it is a violation against society's right to demand news. Therefore, our country is viewed by the international community as quite troubled.

So, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accepted applications from journalists and asked for a defense from the Justice Ministry.

Speaking at the first hearing into daily Zaman defendants on Sept. 18, Şahin Alpay, a former columnist for the now-closed newspaper, expressed "regret" at writing for the outlet, which had close links to the network of U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gülen.

In Turkey, freedom of thought should be explained for its practical benefits rather than for its high philosophical values, because in our society the political tradition that regards "thought" as a "tool" rather than an individual value is very strong. 

The humanitarian conditions in prisons are deteriorating day by day, a Republican People's Party (CHP) sub-commission investigating prison conditions has stated after conducting interviews with imprisoned journalist in Istanbul's Silivri Prison.

An Istanbul court on April 27 accepted a prosecutor's indictment against 30 former Zaman Media Group employees, including editors and columnists, on charges of possessing links to the movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, the main suspect in the July 2016 coup attempt.    

The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Istanbul has demanded three aggravated life sentences for each of the 30 former Zaman Media Group employees, including editors and columnists, on charges of having links to the Fethullah Gülen network, the main suspect behind last year's foiled coup attempt. 

The leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, has quoted Voltaire, French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher, in his response to critics over his honoring of controversial journalists, saying he would defend the rights of imprisoned journalists even though he disagreed with their opinions. 

Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has touched off controversy within his party after honoring arrested journalists who were arrested after the July 15 coup attempt but who were alleged to have aided the infamous Ergenekon and "Balyoz" (Sledgehammer) plots.