Journalists, activists and human rights advocates are still being persecuted in Turkey

11:33     18 January, 2015

Journalists, activists and human rights advocates are still being persecuted in Turkey

 

The events around Charlie Hebdo editorial continue and they are still topics of hot debate all over the world. Turkey is not an exception. Events in Turkey go in a very interesting direction. As Mirror.co.uk reports, a Turkish court has ordered to ban any publication of Charlie Hebdo's latest cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, by saying that any website that would do that, will be blocked.

This decision by a court in Turkey was made after the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet printed the cartoons by Charlie Hebdo. On this occasion Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan wrote on Twitter, - "Those who are publishing figures referring to our supreme Prophet are those who disregard the sacred." Such a move is "open incitement and provocation,"- informs CNN Turk.

After the cartoons were published in Cumhuriyet, as CNN Turk writes, police went to the offices of the newspaper and blocked off traffic around it by stopping the distribution trucks at the printing press in Istanbul.

It should be mentioned that the newspaper included the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo in an English version. However, according to an editorial in the Cumhuriyet newspaper the cover of Charlie Hebdo had nothing to do with Prophet Mohammed. "That drawing is a symbol of a humane and conscientious attitude and it says, 'All is forgiven.'", - said an editorial.

In his turn Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Utku Cakirozer as an explanation why they had printed Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons wrote on his Twitter page and the newspaper website, - "Cumhuriyet has lost writers to terror attacks and understands the Charlie Hebdo massacre very well".

Charlie Hebdo cartoon is not the only case why the Turkish authorities have started their actions against newspapers. On December 14, 2014 Turkey started operations against several newspapers by accusing them for supposed links to Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. Today, on January 15 the European Parliament criticized Turkey’s these actions.

A resolution titled "Freedom of expression in Turkey: Recent arrests of journalists, media executives and systematic pressure against media" prepared by the European Parliament, condemns the arrests of a number of journalists on December 14, 2014 by stating that these arrests are against the freedom of the press and diversity of opinion in Turkey. The motion of resolution, which is put in the official website of the European Parliament, "calls on the HR/VP, the Council and the Commission to step up the pressure on Turkey in the areas of justice, the rule of law and human rights, since these elements are crucial to the accession process and should be prioritised over single market issues".

If we pay attention to the Progress Reports of the EU on Turkey, then it becomes obvious that Turkey has always had a problem of freedom of speech and human rights. After becoming a candidate country of the EU not much has been changed in the spheres mentioned above. Despite the official announcements and claims that democracy in Turkey is on a high level, facts continue to prove just the opposite. The recent events come to show that journalists, activists and human rights advocates are still being persecuted in Turkey…