Erdem Gül

An Istanbul court has ruled to merge a case in which journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül are being tried for allegedly aiding a terrorist organization and a case in which a main opposition deputy is facing similar charges in addition to a charge of supplying confidential state information. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticized Turkey over press freedom, at an award ceremony of the Sanssouci Colloquium held in Germany's Potsdam. Merkel mentioned the former editor-in-chief of the daily Cumhuriyet, Can Dündar, during her speech, as she stressed the significance of press freedom. 

Former daily Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Can Dündar has been named among the nominees of the European Parliament's (EP) prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2016. 

Police in Ankara on Sept. 8 detained the lawyer of a former Adana Public Chief prosecutor and two other prosecutors who are currently under arrest for ordering the 2014 stop and search of Turkish intelligence service trucks bound for Syria with the alleged purpose of arming Syrian rebels, a claim denied by government officials. 

A Turkish court is expected to announce its ruling in the controversial trial of Turkish journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül during a fourth hearing on May 6. 

The Constitutional Court (AYM) had not said anything different than what the prosecutor wrote in his recent opinion in the spying case against journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül. The prosecutor said outright that there was no evidence proving that these two journalists were spying. 

The prosecutor's opinion in the case of journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül has been disclosed. As luck would have it, among the charges there was no mention of spying.  

Public prosecutor Evliya Çal??kan has said "espionage" charges against daily Cumhuriyet journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, who are on trial for reporting on Turkish intelligence trucks allegedly transporting weapons to rebel groups in Syria, are "unfounded." 

Turkey continued to be defined as "not free" in U.S.-based think tank Freedom House's 2016 report on press freedom, with its score going up six points and thus signifying a "deteriorating" trend. 

Turkey is among the countries that "suffered the largest declines" over 2015, along with Bangladesh, Burundi, France, Serbia, Yemen, Egypt, Macedonia, and Zimbabwe.

To call a state democratic and governed by rule of law, the presence of independent and impartial judiciary and judges is necessary, the president of Turkey's Constitutional Court stated in a speech attended by the country's president.