Turkey's media purge after the failed
''coup d'état'' on July 15, 2016 resulted in the shutdown of at least 131 media outlets
and the arrest of 117 journalists – at least 35 of whom have been indicted for "membership in a terror group".
In the wake of the attempted putsch,
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government closed down media companies linked to exiled cleric
Fethullah Gülen
Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...
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. Turkey's media purge has also occurred online: regulators blocked at least 30 news-related websites.
Websites not linked to Gülen's movement, such as
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...
and the Turkish satirical weekly ''Leman'', are among those blocked inside Turkey. In addition 48 online news stories from outlets including ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' have been censored. Three stories were about corruptions allegations involving the president's son
Bilal Erdogan. Wikipedia was blocked from April 2017 to January 2020.
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.
On the same day, Erdogan announced that the
European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...
had been suspended.
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.
However, the 15th article of the Turkish Constitution states that the ECHR cannot be suspended.
In this context and that of
a wider purge in Turkey with 40,000 arrests and 160,000 suspensions of officials,
President Erdogan initiated a purge of media and journalists suspected of sympathy with the
Gülen movement
The Gülen movement () or Hizmet movement () is an Islamist fraternal movement. It is a sub-sect of Sunni Islam based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Fethullah Gülen's religious teachings. It is referred to by its membe ...
.
[Gulen's Hizmet movement](_blank)
/ref> On July 27, Erdogan published a decree in Turkey's official government gazette,
17 journalists
were charged with membership in Gülen’s movement, which the government considers a terrorist group.
Platform for Independent Journalism (P24)
a press freedom group, said the number of journalists arrested since the coup was 108.
Reactions
Press freedom groups have condemned the crackdown. The Turkish representative for Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...
called the arrests "a witch hunt against journalists". 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."Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
, 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.
Appendices
Names of the 50 journalists or media workers indicted between July 18 and September 22
(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 SekizkardeÅŸ, vice-president of Cihan Media, faces charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization"
* Faruk Akkan, news editor for Cihan News Agency
The Cihan News Agency () was a Turkish news agency based in Istanbul.
The agency, established in 1994, was part of Feza Publications, which also owned '' Zaman'' newspaper and '' Aksiyon'', a weekly news magazine. Cihan New Agency, which produce ...
, 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 TaÅŸdelen 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"
* AyÅŸenur 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
* İnan Kızılkaya, news editor ''Özgür Gündem''
* Ercan Gün former Fox TV news editor
* Erdem Mühirci, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA)
* Necmiye Alpay, a writer, linguist, and member of the advisory board of the shuttered, pro-Kurdish daily newspaper ''Özgür Gündem''
* Sabahattin Koyuncu, province correspondent for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DÄ°HA)
* Arap Turan, pro-Kurdish newspaper ''Özgür Gündem''
* Ferit Toprak, pro-Kurdish newspaper ''Özgür Gündem''
* Mutlu Çölgeçen, columnist for the defunct Meydan newspaper ''Atilla Taş''
* Nazlı Ilıcak. a columnist with the defunct newspaper ''Özgür Düşünce'', and a commentator for the defunct broadcaster Can Erzincan TV
* Seyit Kılıç, a reporter for the state broadcaster TRT
* Bayram Kaya, reporter for the defunct daily newspaper ''Yeni Hayat''
* Cihan Acar, a photojournalist with the defunct daily newspaper ''Bugün''
* Bünyamin Köseli, a reporter for the defunct news magazine '' Aksiyon''
* Emre Soncan, a reporter for the defunct daily ''Zaman''
* Mustafa Erkan Acar, a reporter with the defunct Cihan News Agency
* Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu reporter formerly with the daily newspaper ''Zaman''
* Abdullah Kılıç, formerly with Habertürk TV, and the recently closed daily newspaper ''Meydan''
* Habip Güler, a former reporter for ''Zaman''
* Cuma Ulus, a former coordinator of the defunct daily newspaper ''Millet''
* Hanım Büşra Erdal, a former reporter for ''Zaman'', currently with ''Özgür Düşünce''
* Hüseyin Aydın, a former reporter for the Cihan News Agency
* Haşim Söylemez, a reporter formerly with ''Zaman'' and ''Aksiyon''
* Ali AkkuÅŸ, a former editor of ''Zaman''
* Yakup Çetin, a former reporter for ''Zaman''
* Ufuk Şanlı, a columnist formerly with the daily ''Vatan'', currently with the US-based website Al-Monitor
''Al-Monitor'' is a news website launched in 2012 by the Arab-American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel. Based in Washington, D.C., ''Al-Monitor'' provides reporting and analysis from and about the Middle East. ''Al-Monitor'' is the recipient of the I ...
* Ali Bulaç, from ''Zaman''
* Åžahin Alpay, from ''Zaman''
* Ahmet Turan Alkan, from ''Zaman''
* Mustafa Ãœnal, from ''Zaman''
* Nuriye Ural, from ''Zaman''
* Lalezer Sarıibrahimoğlu (pen name: Lale Kemal), from ''Zaman''
131 media outlets shutdown on Erdogan’s July 27 decree
Source:
See also
*2016–present purges in Turkey
Since 2016, the Government of Turkey, government of Turkey has conducted a series of purges, enabled by a Martial law and state of emergency in Turkey, state of emergency in reaction to the 2016 Turkish coup attempt, failed coup attempt on 15 Ju ...
Notes
References
External links
Committee to Protect Journalists
Reporters Without Broders
Turkey Purge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turkey's media purge after the failed July 2016 coup d'etat
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
Political and cultural purges
Mass media freedom in Turkey
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan
Freedom of expression in Turkey
Mass media in Turkey
July 2016 in Turkey
August 2016 in Turkey
Scares
Attacks on mass media