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March 3, 2011 Thursday 9:04 AM EST
Six journalists seized in Turkish raids
by From Yesim Comert, CNN
Istanbul, Turkey
Six Turkish journalists were among at least 11 people seized in police
raids Thursday in a longstanding probe over an alleged plot to
overthrow the government, Turkish media reported.
Police in Istanbul and Ankara conducted early morning operations in
connection with the so-called Ergenekon plot -- under investigation
since 2007, the Anatolian Agency and CNN Turk said, and the raids
follow a sweep of searches and detentions against journalists last
month.
One of the detained is Ahmet Sik, who co-authored two books on
Ergenekon and was facing trial on charges of "violating secrecy of an
investigation" in those books. His attorney spoke on television about
the detention of his client, who was seen put in a car and driven away
by authorities.
Another is Nedim Sener, a newspaper columnist and writer, who wrote
two books and many articles about the assassination of
Armenian-Turkish newspaper editor Hrant Dink in 2007.
He has been fighting in court over his work, in which he has accused
Turkish authorities of failing to stop Dink's murder and said sources
told him recently he's at the top of a list of reporters to be
imprisoned.
Asked about the searches and detentions of journalists, Interior
Minister Besir Atalay told reporters in Ankara that this was "entirely
the decision of the judiciary."
While Turkey's democratic system has been seen as a political model
for the Muslim countries undergoing change, there have been fears that
the Islamic-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has been targeting reporters and dissenters.
Over the last two years, Turkey has dropped from 102 to 138 on the
press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders, and it now sits
among the bottom 40 countries of the world when it comes to freedom of
the press.
In its review of press freedom in Turkey last year, the Committee to
Protect Journalists said "authorities paraded journalists into court
on anti-terror, criminal defamation, and state security charges as
they tried to suppress critical news and commentary on issues
involving national identity, the Kurdish minority, and an alleged
anti-government conspiracy."
On February 18, Turkish authorities arrested three journalists from a
dissident news website, Oda TV, following a raid on their homes and
offices.
In an interview with CNN in November, Sener said journalists in Turkey
are feeling "direct pressure from the government. They can easily
corner the reporter they don't like for news they don't like."
While the police continued searching Sener's house and car, his
neighbors hung Turkish flags on their windows in solidarity with the
journalist, one neighbor told CNN.
In a column Tuesday in the Posta newspaper, Sener wrote that sources
"very close to police" say his "name is written on top of the list of
journalists to be sent to prison."
"Those who see me treat me like a patient with a terminal disease who
is about to die, yet doesn't know yet. Those who avoid eye contact and
greet me with a forced smile have increased. However, I don't know
what 'crime' I committed. If doing your job is a crime, yes I am
guilty," he wrote.
From: A. Papazian
March 3, 2011 Thursday 9:04 AM EST
Six journalists seized in Turkish raids
by From Yesim Comert, CNN
Istanbul, Turkey
Six Turkish journalists were among at least 11 people seized in police
raids Thursday in a longstanding probe over an alleged plot to
overthrow the government, Turkish media reported.
Police in Istanbul and Ankara conducted early morning operations in
connection with the so-called Ergenekon plot -- under investigation
since 2007, the Anatolian Agency and CNN Turk said, and the raids
follow a sweep of searches and detentions against journalists last
month.
One of the detained is Ahmet Sik, who co-authored two books on
Ergenekon and was facing trial on charges of "violating secrecy of an
investigation" in those books. His attorney spoke on television about
the detention of his client, who was seen put in a car and driven away
by authorities.
Another is Nedim Sener, a newspaper columnist and writer, who wrote
two books and many articles about the assassination of
Armenian-Turkish newspaper editor Hrant Dink in 2007.
He has been fighting in court over his work, in which he has accused
Turkish authorities of failing to stop Dink's murder and said sources
told him recently he's at the top of a list of reporters to be
imprisoned.
Asked about the searches and detentions of journalists, Interior
Minister Besir Atalay told reporters in Ankara that this was "entirely
the decision of the judiciary."
While Turkey's democratic system has been seen as a political model
for the Muslim countries undergoing change, there have been fears that
the Islamic-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has been targeting reporters and dissenters.
Over the last two years, Turkey has dropped from 102 to 138 on the
press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders, and it now sits
among the bottom 40 countries of the world when it comes to freedom of
the press.
In its review of press freedom in Turkey last year, the Committee to
Protect Journalists said "authorities paraded journalists into court
on anti-terror, criminal defamation, and state security charges as
they tried to suppress critical news and commentary on issues
involving national identity, the Kurdish minority, and an alleged
anti-government conspiracy."
On February 18, Turkish authorities arrested three journalists from a
dissident news website, Oda TV, following a raid on their homes and
offices.
In an interview with CNN in November, Sener said journalists in Turkey
are feeling "direct pressure from the government. They can easily
corner the reporter they don't like for news they don't like."
While the police continued searching Sener's house and car, his
neighbors hung Turkish flags on their windows in solidarity with the
journalist, one neighbor told CNN.
In a column Tuesday in the Posta newspaper, Sener wrote that sources
"very close to police" say his "name is written on top of the list of
journalists to be sent to prison."
"Those who see me treat me like a patient with a terminal disease who
is about to die, yet doesn't know yet. Those who avoid eye contact and
greet me with a forced smile have increased. However, I don't know
what 'crime' I committed. If doing your job is a crime, yes I am
guilty," he wrote.
From: A. Papazian