Two journalists arrested for story on "weapons loaded" intelligence trucks bound for Syria

originally posted by: theultimatebelgianjoke
a reply to: Belgianbloke

Third Turkish journalist arrested amid fears of Ankara censorship

Local media has reported that a third Turkish reporter has been arrested, amid concern Ankara is cracking down on free speech. Yesterday, protestors took to the streets following the arrest of two other journalists.

You know I was watching Villa politica the other day ( for the none Belgians, its a program live from the parliament )
And now they are gonna look at the Saudi - Daesh connection while they should be looking at Turkey, but mum's the word

a reply to: Belgianbloke

Very few people in European politics are capable of having a perspective on everything middle-east related that is not biased by powerful lobbies.
The only 'Belgian' politician who got a correct position towards Syria, discussing with Assad ... is someone I have and, probably will never, vote for.



EDIT :
For those unfamiliar with Belgian politics, this is Filip Dewinter

For those interested by the updates on this topic, I strongly suggest to keep an eye on the journalistic work of Frederike Geerdink.
Mrs Geerdink is a Dutch journalist, she got arrested and expelled a few months ago for her 'inappropriate' coverage of the Kurdish situation in Turkey.

a reply to: theultimatebelgianjoke

From your article it looks like only two of three English reporters were freed; Mohammed Rasool is still in prison and Vice news are trying to free him. Turkey claim that he is affiliated to Kurdish terrorist groups, Rasool claims that he was trying to cover the story of the Kurdish situation.
I can't find any stories about his release, so I guess he's still being detained?

a reply to: beansidhe

Apparently he's not :

During G20 Summit, Human Rights Groups Call on Turkey to Release VICE News Journalist Mohammed Rasool



We need a soundtrack for this thread.

a reply to: theultimatebelgianjoke

Too true. This list is outdated, it ends in Dec 2014, but it lists almost 80 media personnel arrests since 2010.

Midnight Express seems to be spot on:

A report issued by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media[17] describes a number of concerns concerning the case of arrested journalists in Turkey :

- Courts often impose exceptionally long imprisonment sentences. The longest conviction is 166 years and the longest jail sentence sought for a journalist is 3,000 years.
- Many journalists face double life sentences if convicted, some without possibility for parole. Courts do not tend to grant pre-trial release of defendants.
- There is concern that arrests and long pre-trial detentions without conviction are used as a form of intimidation.
- Pre-trial detentions remain very long. In some cases journalists held in prison for up to three years are still awaiting trial. Some journalists have been imprisoned for more than five years while their trial is ongoing.
-Journalists often face several trials and are often convicted for several offences. There is one journalist who faces 150 court cases.
- Media outlets reporting about sensitive issues (including terrorism or anti-government activities) are often regarded by the authorities as the publishing organs of illegal organizations. Courts often consider reporting about such issues as equal to supporting them.
-Journalists are often imprisoned in F-tipi cezaevi (F-type high security prisons), where they have to serve their time with the most dangerous criminals. It is also not uncommon to punish journalists with solitary confinement for extended time periods.
]

There seems to be three types of offenses - reporting on Kurdish issues or being a Kurdish journalist, offering a critical report of the government or a general anti-state stance in writing. There must be many more to add to the 80 from a year ago. Erdogan is out of control.

a reply to: beansidhe

Thousands Gather in Turkey for Funeral of Slain Kurdish Lawyer Tahir Elçi

Elçi was involved in representing three VICE News journalists — British citizens Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, as well as Iraqi Mohammed Ismael Rasool — after they were arrested by Turkish authorities on August 27 while reporting in Diyarbakir and charged with baseless terrorism offenses. Hanrahan and Pendlebury were released a few days later, but Rasool remains in pretrial detention, held in a maximum-security prison in the southern city of Adana.

"We are shocked and saddened by the senseless killing of leading lawyer and human rights defender Tahir Elçi in Diyarbakir," a VICE spokesperson said in a statement. "Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family, friends, and colleagues."

So the activist was 'officially' killed by the PKK while defending pro-Kurd militants and ran into troubles in the past for saying that the PKK was not a terror group ... Yeah right Erdogan ...

I think what get's lost in all of this is that Turkey is using the excuse of the Syrian crisis to go after it's Kurdish enemies. Those reporters who dared to cover the Kurdish crisis have been jailed (or slain) by Erdogan.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

The Turkish-Kurdish conflict extend to Syria does not only implies Turkey bombing the Kurds who fight against ISIS, it's also about backing the ethnico-religious Turkmen group in an attempt to overthrow Assad. The Russian Su-24 incident helped to shed some light on them, and their role in the ISIS oil smuggle.

originally posted by: Blackmarketeer
I think what get's lost in all of this is that Turkey is using the excuse of the Syrian crisis to go after it's Kurdish enemies. Those reporters who dared to cover the Kurdish crisis have been jailed (or slain) by Erdogan.

This is the kind of duplicity I cannot stomach!! U.S. factions (and many others) do the same. It's become standard operating procedure for these people. Right from the get go Erdogan loses all credibility for me as do those in the U.S government and everywhere else who use these kinds of tactics.

Turkish generals arrested in Syria-bound trucks case

Two generals and a retired colonel have been arrested on charges of espionage and terrorism for their role in the interception in 2014 of trucks allegedly carrying arms to Syria.

Ankara Gendarmerie Regional Commander Maj. Gen. İbrahim Aydın and former Adana Gendarmerie Regional Commander Brig. Gen. Hamza Celepoğlu and former Gendarmerie Criminal Laboratory head, ret. Col. Burhanettin Cihangiroğlu were detained on Saturday and referred to an İstanbul court for arrest on Sunday.

The İstanbul Second Criminal Court of Peace ruled for the arrest pending trial of Aydın, Celepoğlu and Cihangiroğlu a little after the midnight on Monday.

Maj. Gen Aydın and ret. Col. Cihangiroğlu were arrested on charges of “obtaining confidential information for purposes of political or military espionage; disclosing confidential information pertaining to state security for espionage purposes; attempting to destroy or prevent the government of the Republic of Turkey from functioning; founding or leading an armed terrorist organization.”

Brig. Gen. Celepoğlu was arrested on charges of “attempting to destroy or prevent the government of the Republic of Turkey from functioning; founding or leading an armed terrorist organization.”

Two editors of the Cumhuriyet daily, Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar and the Ankara representative Erdem Gül were arrested last week on similar charges after publishing footage that showed the arms were carrying guns, contrary to earlier government claims that they were transporting humanitarian aid.

Court dismisses appeal for release of Cumhuriyet journalists

A Turkish court has dismissed an objection to the arrest of Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül that was filed by the journalists’ lawyers on Nov. 30, amid appeals launched by local and international press organizations for the release of the two.

Dündar and Gül’s lawyers filed an objection to the arrest decision on Nov. 30, stressing it constituted a violation of Turkey’s constitution and principles of human rights.

“We are fulfilling our duty and objecting to the ruling that is in violation of Turkey’s constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights, and rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. The rest is up to you. The decision and the responsibility lie with you,” read the three-sentence objection.

On Nov. 29, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu also commented on the arrests en route to Brussels for the EU-Turkey Summit, saying they were “unnecessary.”

“I believe it is right to order a release pending trial, apart from in exceptional cases,” he said, while stressing that revealing state secrets “is a crime everywhere in the world.”

Dündar and Gül were arrested on charges of collecting and revealing secret documents for espionage and supporting an armed terrorist organization. The accusations were based on reports in Cumhuriyet regarding Syria-bound trucks sent by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and halted for inspection by police in January 2014.