Day 26
Country: Turkey
Journalist: Tayyip Temel
Media: Azadiya Welat (Kurdish-language newspaper)
Jailed since: October 4, 2011
Suggested Tweets:
30 Days for Freedom campaign calls for release of Tayyip Temel & all journalists imprisoned in #Turkey bit.ly/1hNuvPc [1] #FreethePress
.@cbabdullahgul [2] 30 Days for Freedom calling for release of Tayyip Temel & all journos jailed in Turkey #FreethePress bit.ly/1kodakk [3]
Tayyip Temel has languished in jail in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir since October 2011. The editor-in-chief of the daily Kurdish-language newspaper Azadiya Welat was accused of supporting terrorism by covering the activities of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Yet the only evidence presented against him included an article written by Temel and wiretapped phone recordings with co-workers and news sources, including members of Kurdish political parties.
Share our protest letter bit.ly/1kodakk [4]
The Kurdish issue has provided a particularly tricky context for journalists, as their coverage risks suspicion and accusations of “aiding terrorism.” In a mass arrest by Turkish authorities in 2011, 46 journalists and media workers were accused under Turkish anti-terrorist legislation of being members of the banned Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK), an umbrella organisation that includes the PKK. There has been a stream of releases in the trial since then, but charges have not been dropped entirely and the threat of jail still looms over many journalists.
Turkey has been the leading jailer of journalists for the past two years. At the end of 2013, 40 journalists were behind bars. Many journalists receive hefty sentences and the country’s anti-terrorism laws allow defendants to be detained for lengthy periods before being formally charged. The Turkish government has waged an intense war against freedom of expression and at the personal behest of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Twitter and YouTube were recently blocked.
Suggested Tweets:
30 Days for Freedom campaign calls for release of Tayyip Temel & all journalists imprisoned in #Turkey [5] bit.ly/1hNuvPc [1] #FreethePress [6]
.@cbabdullahgul [2] 30 Days for Freedom calling for release of Tayyip Temel & all journos jailed in Turkey #FreethePress bit.ly/1kodakk [3]
Resources:
- European Federation of Journalists: “Turkey: Imprisoned Journalists Tayip Temel and Ahmed Birsin were ‘Just Doing their Job’”: http://europe.ifj.org/en/articles/turkey-imprisoned-journalists-tayip-temel-and-ahmed-birsi-were-just-doing-their-job [7]
- CPJ: “Turkey's Press Freedom Crisis: The Kurdish Cases”: http://www.cpj.org/reports/2012/10/turkeys-press-freedom-crisis-the-kurdish-cases.php [8]
- CPJ: Turkish courts release eight journalists in two days: http://cpj.org/2014/03/turkish-courts-release-eight-journalists-in-two-da.php [9]
- Amnesty International: “Decriminalize dissent: Time to deliver on the right to freedom of expression”: http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR44/001/2013/en/2f995e94-75e3-4a73-b50c-28f7e84f46d8/eur440012013en.pdf [10]
