Ekrem Dumanlı

The arrested Turkish justice of the U.N.'s Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), Aydın Sefa Akay, has denied accusations that he has ties to the Gülen movement, saying that in fact he is a Freemason. 

A trustee panel has been appointed to a news agency linked to U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who the Turkish president accuses of heading a "terrorist organization," days after a similar ruling led to the seizure of the Zaman media group. 

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby has named a recent court decision to appoint a board of trustees to Zaman media group "troubling," as the European Union also criticized Turkey for media freedom.

An Istanbul criminal court of peace ruled on Oct. 14 for the release of Today?s Zaman editor-in-chief Bülent Kene?, who was under arrest on charges of 'defaming President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.'

Ekrem Dumanl?, editor-in-chief of Daily Zaman, announced his resignation on Oct. 5 due to ?unlawful pressure on press and his personality.?

Eighty-nine members of the U.S. Congress have written a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry about Turkey?s crackdown on media organizations linked to the U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

The debate is the investigations of Hidayet Karaca and Ekrem Dumanlı on charges of being a member of and managing a terrorist organization; while one of them is arrested, the other has been released with a travel ban.

“Is that only two articles and a news item that you have against me?” Ekrem Dumanlı, the editor-in-chief of daily Zaman asked the judge. “Yes,” answered Bekir Altun, the Istanbul 1st Criminal Court judge.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said he is closely following the operation launched on Dec. 14 targeting some members of the Fethullah Gülen movement, including two top executives of media groups close to the U.S.-based Islamic scholar, while he has also slammed international organizations for voicing concerns over media freedom in Turkey.

An Istanbul court has ordered the arrest of four of the 12 suspects, including Samayolu TV's head, who were detained in a Dec. 14 police operation on media groups linked to U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Eight suspects, including Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı, have been released. The court, however, imposed a travel ban on Dumanlı.