16 Kurdish journalists arrested in Turkey for "terrorism"
Journalists detained in Turkey for working for propaganda media outlets that serve allegedly terrorist organizations such as the Kurdistan worker's Party (PKK)
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Selahattin Demirtas, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party
More than a dozen Turkish journalists have been imprisoned Thursday by court order for allegedly belonging to terrorist organizations in Southeastern Turkey. The journalists have been unlawfully detained, alongside others, for "spreading terrorist propaganda" since June 8 according to Turkish authorities.
Originally 20 journalists were detained June 8 in Diyarbakir, a city with a Kurdish majority population, for working at Kurdish media outlets. According to police sources, the police department had investigated the "press committee" of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PPK) group.
Serdar Altan, co-chairman of the Dicle Firat Journalists' Association, Jin News CEO Safiye Alagas, and Mezopotamya news agency editor Aziz Oruc were among those jailed. While 16 journalists were imprisoned, the rest were set free following the investigative decisions.
Non-governmental groups frequently decry the loss of journalistic freedom in Turkey, which is ranked 149th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' 2022 Press Freedom Index.
Moreover, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Peoples' Democratic Party, the third-largest party within the Turkish parliament, of being the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Since 2016, hundreds of the Peoples' Democratic Party members have been arrested, including leader Selahattin Demirtaş.
