Mümtazer Türköne

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.

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. 

A ?blame game? has started after political scientist and columnist Mümtazer Türköne wrote an article in daily Zaman 10 days ago with the title ?Is Islamism finished?? referring to the Islamist movement in Turkey.