Tweet
Turkish Prime Minister afraid of unpublished books, MP says
March 26, 2011 - 13:01 AMT 09:01 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net -
A Turkish court issued an order for all draft copies of a jailed
journalist's yet unpublished book to be confiscated.
The court ordered police to seize all draft documents and copies of
investigative journalist Ahmet Sik's book, which reportedly focuses on
the influence of an Islamic group within the police force. Sik was
jailed earlier this month - along with six other journalists - accused
of links to an alleged hardline secularist plot to topple Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government in 2003. Their arrests drew
expressions of concern from Western governments and international
media rights groups.
Some 400 people, including other journalists, politicians and military
officers, are already on trial, accused of membership in an alleged
terror network, called Ergenekon, which prosecutors say conspired to
provoke public unrest and trigger a coup to bring down the government.
Critics say the government is using the case to round up government
opponents, an accusation Erdogan rejects. The government has backed
the investigation, saying it is strengthening democracy.
Police raided and searched the premises of an Istanbul publishing
house. Ahmet Oz, an editor at the publishing house told reporters
police had destroyed an electronic copy of the draft from a computer.
Police also seized a copy from Sik's colleague and friend, Ertugrul
Mavioglu, the journalist said. Sik had sent him a copy to read,
seeking his opinions.
The confiscation order comes weeks after a prosecutor investigating
the case insisted none of the journalists were detained for any of
their writings and said he had evidence on the journalists which he
was unable to disclose. Sik's lawyer had said the journalist planned
to name the book "The Army of the Imam," after influential Islamic
preacher, Fethullah Gulen, who is believed to have millions of
followers in Turkey.
The journalist suggested that his detention was linked to his book,
shouting "anyone who touches (Gulen) burns" as he was being taken away
by police on March 3, The Associated Press reports.
`It's for the first time when an unpublished book is being eliminated.
Prime Minister is scared of even unwritten books,' Cumhuriyet quoted
an opposition MP as saying.
From: A. Papazian
March 26, 2011 - 13:01 AMT 09:01 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net -
A Turkish court issued an order for all draft copies of a jailed
journalist's yet unpublished book to be confiscated.
The court ordered police to seize all draft documents and copies of
investigative journalist Ahmet Sik's book, which reportedly focuses on
the influence of an Islamic group within the police force. Sik was
jailed earlier this month - along with six other journalists - accused
of links to an alleged hardline secularist plot to topple Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government in 2003. Their arrests drew
expressions of concern from Western governments and international
media rights groups.
Some 400 people, including other journalists, politicians and military
officers, are already on trial, accused of membership in an alleged
terror network, called Ergenekon, which prosecutors say conspired to
provoke public unrest and trigger a coup to bring down the government.
Critics say the government is using the case to round up government
opponents, an accusation Erdogan rejects. The government has backed
the investigation, saying it is strengthening democracy.
Police raided and searched the premises of an Istanbul publishing
house. Ahmet Oz, an editor at the publishing house told reporters
police had destroyed an electronic copy of the draft from a computer.
Police also seized a copy from Sik's colleague and friend, Ertugrul
Mavioglu, the journalist said. Sik had sent him a copy to read,
seeking his opinions.
The confiscation order comes weeks after a prosecutor investigating
the case insisted none of the journalists were detained for any of
their writings and said he had evidence on the journalists which he
was unable to disclose. Sik's lawyer had said the journalist planned
to name the book "The Army of the Imam," after influential Islamic
preacher, Fethullah Gulen, who is believed to have millions of
followers in Turkey.
The journalist suggested that his detention was linked to his book,
shouting "anyone who touches (Gulen) burns" as he was being taken away
by police on March 3, The Associated Press reports.
`It's for the first time when an unpublished book is being eliminated.
Prime Minister is scared of even unwritten books,' Cumhuriyet quoted
an opposition MP as saying.
From: A. Papazian