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Reactions Snowball After Arrest Of Cumhuriyet Editors Dündar, Gül

28.11.2015 10:58

Many from various circles, including politicians, intellectuals and representatives of media organizations, have leveled harsh criticism over the arrest of Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar and the paper's Ankara representative Erdem Gül on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization, espionage.

Many from various circles, including politicians, intellectuals and representatives of media organizations, have leveled harsh criticism over the arrest of Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar and the paper's Ankara representative Erdem Gül on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization, espionage and revealing confidential documents.

Dündar and Gül were summoned on Wednesday to testify as part of an investigation launched after Cumhuriyet published in May photos of arms that it said were transferred to Syria in trucks operated by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT).

The articles, published on the daily's front page, reported that the trucks in question were intercepted by gendarmes on two occasions in January 2014 after prosecutors received tip offs that they were illegally carrying arms to Syria. There have been allegations that the arms were going to extremist groups fighting against the Syrian regime. Ankara, on the other hand, insisted the trucks were carrying aid to Syrian Turkmens and branded their interception an act of “treason” and “espionage.”

The two editors went to the Çağlayan Courthouse in İstanbul on Thursday to testify. Prosecutor İrfan Fidan requested that the editors be arrested on Thursday, after which they were referred to the 7th Penal Court of Peace. The court decided to arrest Dündar and Gül on Thursday amid an outpour of support for the veteran journalists from their colleagues, intellectuals, lawyers and politicians.

Dündar and Gül were taken to Silivri Prison after the court's decision. "Don't worry, these are medals of honor for us," Dündar was quoted by Cumhuriyet's website as saying on Thursday night.

Reactions continued to pour in from across the country after the court decision to arrest Dündar and Gül.

CHP leader: Court decision marks 'black day' for democracy

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said the decision marked a "black day" for democracy and freedoms.

Kılıçdaroğlu said the court decision clearly shows how afraid the government is of the MİT truck story. Saying the decision is unlawful, Kılıçdaroğlu stated the arrest is a decision made upon the orders of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Erdoğan personally sued Dündar and is requesting that he be given a life sentence, an aggravated life sentence and an additional 42-year prison term on charges related to a variety of crimes ranging from espionage to attempting to topple the government and exposing secret information. President Erdoğan had publicly targeted Dündar for the coverage of the MİT trucks, saying in a television interview with state broadcaster the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) in June, "The individual who reported this as an exclusive story will pay a heavy price."

CHP İstanbul deputy Mahmut Tanal also said the arrests mark a “coup” staged against the press. “It is a massacre of the law to launch an investigation and rule for the arrest of the two journalists based on special orders,” Tanal said, referring to the government's role in the prosecution of the journalists.

The opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) also condemned the arrests in a joint statement by its co-leaders, stating the ruling once again demonstrates how judicial mechanisms are under the influence of Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.

In the statement released early on Friday, the pro-Kurdish party stated Dündar and Gül were arrested after an order from Erdoğan, who had already said he would make sure Dündar pays the price for his reports about the MİT trucks.

CHP Bursa deputy Ceyhun İrgin said on Friday no one expects true journalists to act in line with political benefits because that is the work of politicians. Saying journalists seek facts and act according to their own wisdoms and conscience, İrgin said Dündar and Gül sacrificed their freedoms to facts.

Another CHP deputy Musa Çam told the Cihan news agency on Friday the court's decision has actually proven those MİT trucks were really carrying arms.

According to the Cumhuriyet's May report, the Syria-bound MİT trucks were carrying six steel containers containing 1,000 artillery shells, 50,000 machine gun rounds, 30,000 heavy machine gun rounds and 1,000 mortar shells. All of this is registered in the prosecutor's file on the MİT truck case, the report said. The photos, published on the daily's front page in late May, show steel containers filled with mortar shells and ammunition underneath boxes of medicine. The daily also published a video showing the containers on trucks being opened and searched by gendarmes.

Çam said the arrest of the two Cumhuriyet editors was a big blow to freedom of the press delivered personally by President Erdoğan. “If there is no press freedom in a country, this means all freedoms are under serious threat in this country and that there is no democracy in the country in question. Turkey has been turned into a semi-open prison for journalists during the 13-year AK Party rule and this problem is intensifying with every passing day,” Çam added.

CHP Deputy Chairman Bülent Tezcan said he was the one who first voiced claims about an arms transfer by Turkey to Syria with some documents during a press conference on Feb. 6 last year. Stating the arrest decision is completely unlawful, Tezcan noted the courts did not arrest those who committed the crime but those who reported on it. “If someone has to be tried over this, it should be me. I shared those documents with the public first. Why are you trying journalists over this?” Tezcan asked.

CHP deputy calls on SI to show solidarity with Dündar, Gül

CHP deputy Umut Oran, who is also deputy chairman of the Socialist International (SI), called on all members of SI as well as all journalists in Turkey to show their solidarity with Dündar and Gül.

In a written statement released on Friday, Oran said the arrest of Dündar and Gül is very troubling, calling on people to speak out against the incident. “The world is a dangerous place not because of those who do evil, but because of those who remain silent against those evildoers,” Oran said.

CHP deputy Barış Yarkadaş also said on Thursday night everyone will see the kinds of problems Turkey will face over Syria in the coming days. “Journalists are being arrested in order to prevent them from writing about those problems and from exposing the kind of disaster Turkey is currently being dragging into.”

Defining courts as a theater, Yarkadaş said the editors were arrested upon political orders, highlighting that the arrests aims to eradicate people's right to learn the facts.

Former Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Lütfü Türkkan also called the arrest of Dündar and Gül a “coup against the media” in tweets posted on Friday, saying: “I don't share the same ideas with Can Dündar, but I see his arrest as a move to silence the media and as a coup performed against democracy in our country. You cannot find any other country that continues to arrest journalists except Turkey. Turkey needs democracy.”

Media organizations strongly criticize arrest

Representatives of various media organizations have also condemned the arrest of Dündar and Gül. Media Ethics Council (MEK) President Halit Esendir said the arrests have clearly shown there is no longer media freedom in Turkey.

In a press release on Friday, Esendir said unlawful practices are being conducted against journalists brazenly and openly in the country. Supporting Dündar and Gül, Esendir said both his colleagues were just engaging in journalism. “What is being tried is actually the profession of journalism and people's right to information. People have the right to learn about facts via the job of journalists. In countries where journalists are arrested for doing their jobs, the existence of a democratic state of law is out of the question,” Esendir highlighted.

The İzmir Journalists' Association (İGC) also condemned the recent arrests, stating the court did not just arrest the two journalists but also journalism in Turkey as well.

Releasing a written statement on Friday on the arrest, İGC President Misket Dikmen said, “The law was ignored, justice was trodden on and freedom of the press and freedom of expression were arrested in front of the whole world.” Dikmen also added Dündar and Gül are two honest and honorable journalists who were just serving people's right to information, adding: “No one questions whether the reports about the MİT trucks were factual, but almost everyone is questioning the existence of justice or rights and freedoms in our country.”

In its statement released on Friday, the Turkish Journalists Federation (TGF) stated the arrest of the two editors does not comply with democracy. Noting the frequent arrests of journalists have been damaging Turkey's prestige internationally, the TGF added protecting the confidential information of the state is not the duty of journalists but the state's. It also said journalists' duties are to convey the facts to people and the court decision is thus a misfortune and a coup against free media in Turkey.

Press Council President Pınar Türenç also condemned the arrest of the two editors via a press release on Friday. She said no one can place people's right to information and freedom of expression behind bars, emphasizing, “The power of pens cannot be restricted at all.”

The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) also released a statement on Friday, saying critical journalists are being targeted by the government and Silivri Prison has been turned into a “concentration camp” for journalists who are not pro-government. The GYV also stated it vehemently condemns the arrest of Dündar and Gül.

Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) President Nazmi Bilgin defined the arrest of the two editors as an “eclipse of reason,” saying Silivri Prison, where many journalists have been detained in recent years, will turn into a democracy museum one day. “Freedom of expression, freedom of the press and people's right to information are basic requirements of democracy. Informing people about the government's acts cannot be considered a crime at all.”

The Turkish Confederation of Journalists (TGK) called for the immediate release of Dündar and Gül, saying if the press is not free in a country, then democracy and human rights cannot exist.

Zaman Editor-in-Chief Abdülhamit Bilici also condemned the arrest on Friday, stating there are dozens of journalists in Turkey who are currently behind bars for doing their jobs, adding he is extremely concerned by the increasing pressure on the free media and the regression of democracy in the country.

Today's Zaman Editor-in-Chief Bülent Keneş expressed his solidarity with his arrested colleagues on Friday, saying fundamental rights and freedoms and legal security no longer exist in Turkey.

Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD) Chairwoman Cansen Başaran Symes also spoke up against the arrest. Releasing a written statement on the issue on Friday, Symes said a democratic country cannot exist without freedom of the press and people's right to information.

The Human Rights Association (İHD) also released a written statement on Friday condemning the arrests. Noting the judiciary in Turkey is no longer impartial and independent, the İHD statement said: “The right of journalists to freedom of expression was violated. It is no longer possible to talk about the existence of legal security for anyone in Turkey.”

Saying freedom of expression cannot restricted, the İHD called on the authorities to release Dündar and Gül as soon as possible, emphasizing that anyone who has been arrested just based on their opinions must also be released. (Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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