Nine of the journalists arrested in Turkey this week have been released, according to the Mezopotamya News Agency.
All nine were arrested on Tuesday as part of an investigation by the Eskişehir Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
The nine released journalists are Mesopotamia Women Journalists’ Association (MKG) President Roza Metina, cartoonist Doğan Güzel, writer-translators Ömer Barasi and Berfin Atlı, directors Ardin Diren and Abdurrahman Aydın, poet-writer Ahmet Hicri İzgören, photographer Emrah Kelekçiler and journalist Ahmet Sünbül.
Prosecutors had requested that several of the nine remain in detention. However, all nine were eventually released, after an order from the judge.
The court ordered that a further five journalists remain in detention, after successful representations from the prosecutor. The five – Mehmet Üçar, Erdoğan Alayumat, Serap Güneş, Bilge Aksu and Tuğçe Yılmaz – have been referred to the Criminal Court of Peace for ‘being a member of a terrorist organisation’.
Coordinated police raids on Tuesday led to the arrest of prominent journalists, rights advocates and political leaders in multiple Turkish cities, including Diyarbakır (Amed), İstanbul, Mardin (Mêrdîn), and Ankara. Among the Kurdish politicians arrested was Diyarbakır’s Kayapınar (Peyas) District Co-Mayor Cengiz Dündar. Other arrestees included Nimet Tanrıkulu, a founding member of the Human Rights Association (IHD).
In total, over 200 arrests were made. The police actions were criticised by Dicle Firat Journalists Association (DFG), who declared that “The detention of journalists is unacceptable”. Turkey’s Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party also condemned the arrests, describing them as targeted attacks on democratic opposition and freedom of expression.
Earlier this week, the Turkey Writers’ Union had expressed “deep concern” over the detention of İzgören, one of those released today. İzgören is a prominent poet who has a number of health issues. The Union called his arrest an affront to the country’s literary heritage.
Women Press Freedom and other advocacy groups demanded the immediate release of all of the detained journalists, describing the operation as a “coordinated effort to stifle the truth”. The Mesopotamia Women Journalists’ Association also called for solidarity, urging “all individuals and institutions defending the public’s right to information” to unite.
Many of the journalists arrested on Tuesday were connected to Yeni Özgür Politika, a newspaper which the Turkish prosecutors are accusing of links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Yeni Özgür Politika has released a statement denying the allegations.
The crackdown in Turkey coincided with waves of arrests of Kurdish organisers by police in Germany and the UK.
