Media freedom in Turkey

“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.

On Sunday, yet another weird episode was added to Turkey's endless hall of shame: About three dozen people were detained, including many journalists. These included Ekrem Dumanlı, the editor-in-chief of Turkey's top selling newspaper, Zaman, and Hidayet Karaca, the general manager of Samanyolu, a news station and TV network.

The ban on reporting on the parliamentary inquiry into corruption allegations concerning four former Cabinet ministers is totally absurd and could not happen in a European democracy, according to PEN Norway Secretary General Carl Morten Iversen.

The ban on reporting on the parliamentary inquiry into corruption allegations concerning four former Cabinet ministers is totally absurd and could not happen in a European democracy, according to PEN Norway Secretary General Carl Morten Iversen.