Turkey's media purge after the failed coup d'état on July 15, 2016 resulted in the shutdown of at least 131 media outlets[1] and the arrest of 117 journalists[2] – at least 35 of whom have been indicted for "membership in a terror group".[3]
In the wake of the attempted putsch,[4]President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government closed down media companies linked to exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen and his Hizmet Movement. Turkey's General Directorate for Press, Broadcasting, and Information also revoked at least 620 journalists' accreditations.
As a result of the crackdown, 2,308 media workers and journalists have lost their job.[5] Turkey's media purge has also occurred online: regulators blocked at least 30 news-related websites.[1] Websites not linked to Gülen's movement, such as Wikileaks and the Turkish satirical weekly Leman, are among those blocked inside Turkey. In addition 48 online news stories from outlets including The Independent have been censored.[6] Three stories were about corruptions allegations involving the president's son Bilal Erdogan.[7]Wikipedia was blocked from April 2017 to January 2020.[8][9]
Chronology of Purge
On Thursday July 21, six days after the failed coup d’état, Turkey’s parliament approved a bill declaring a state of emergency allowing the government to rule by decree for three months.[10] On the same day, Erdogan announced that the European Convention on Human Rights had been suspended.[citation needed]
Under the Turkish constitution, during a state of emergency, the government can overturn the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms, as long as it respects international laws.[10] However, the 15th article of the Turkish Constitution states that the ECHR cannot be suspended.[11]
In this context and that of a wider purge in Turkey with 40,000 arrests and 160,000 suspensions of officials,[12] President Erdogan initiated a purge of media and journalists suspected of sympathy with the Gülen movement.[13] On July 27, Erdogan published a decree in Turkey's official government gazette,[14] ordering the shutdown of three news agencies, 16 TV channels, 23 radio channels, 45 newspapers, 15 magazines and 29 publishing houses (see list below).[1]
By the force of the state of emergency, "all goods, assets, rights, documents and papers [belonging to those media outlets] will be transferred, free of charge, to Turkish treasury with no appeal to be made".[15] Also, 89 arrest warrants were issued for journalists who were alleged plotters in the failed attempt to overthrow the government.[16]
During the same week, 17 journalists were charged with membership in Gülen’s movement, which the government considers a terrorist group.[16] On August 5, this number increased to 36 journalists indicted for the same charge.[17] The Turkish government justified the arrests for security reasons and said the journalists were being investigated and prosecuted for participating in criminal activities.[18] On August 27, the Platform for Independent Journalism (P24), a press freedom group, said the number of journalists arrested since the coup was 108.[19]
Reactions
Press freedom groups have condemned the crackdown. The Turkish representative for Reporters Without Borders called the arrests "a witch hunt against journalists".[20] David Kaye, the UN special rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression said that "the attempted coup cannot justify such a broad attack against almost all voices, not just critical ones but analytic and journalistic."[21]
"The disregard for any assurance of due process is flagrant and only contributes to the extreme levels of insecurity affecting all those working to inform people of the ongoing crisis in the country," said Dunja Mijatović, the media freedom representative of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's representative on media freedom.[21]
The Committee to Protect Journalist's program coordinator for central Asia, Nina Ognianova, said that the "scale of this rout of the media is staggering." She added: "The government is exploiting a failed coup to silence the critical press when Turkey most needs pluralistic media."[22]
The Turkey director at Human Rights Watch, Emma Sinclair-Webb, added to the criticism "In the absence of any evidence of their role or participation in the violent attempt to overthrow the government, we strongly condemn this accelerated assault on the media, which further undermines Turkey’s democratic credentials", she said.[16]
Names of the 50 journalists or media workers indicted between July 18 and September 22[23]
(Most are charged for membership to Gulen’s movement, some for being pro-PKK)
Mümtaz'er Türköne, a former columnist for the shuttered newspaper Zaman and its sister, English-language publication Today's Zaman, who stands accused of "serving the goals" of the Hizmet movement
Alaattin Güner faces charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization"
Şeref Yılmaz, vice-chair of the broadcaster Irmak TV's board of directors, faces charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization"
Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, vice-president of Cihan Media, faces charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization"
Faruk Akkan, news editor for Cihan News Agency, faces charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization"
Mehmet Özdemir faces charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization"
Fevzi Yazıcı, a former design editor for Zaman and a columnist for the daily Yarına Bakış, faces charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization"
Zafer Özsoy faces charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization"
Cuma Kayaand faces charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization"
Hakan Taşdelen faces charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization"
Hüseyin Turan, a shareholder in the Feza Media Group, faces charges of "aiding a terrorist organization without being a member"
Murat Avcıoğlu faces charges of "aiding a terrorist organization without being a member"
Ayşenur Parlak: former Zaman newspaper reporter
Erdal Şen, former Ankara correspondent for the daily newspaper Habertürk
Arda Akın, a journalist for the daily newspaper Hürriyet
Aslı Erdoğan, columnist and a member of the suspended, pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem's advisory board
Bilir Kaya, editor: of Özgür Gündem, the pro-Kurdish newspaper reported on its website
