Turkish mafia leader threatens newspaper boss, columnists over report

Notorious mafia leader Alaattin Çakıcı threatened Karar daily boss Mehmet Aydın and six columnists in a written statement posted on his “official” Instagram account on Friday, the Diken news website reported.

Çakıcı targeted the Karar daily over their news story on his previous statement about the June 24 elections, titled “Insolent remarks to [President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan,” calling on his “fans” to punish the journalists.

“I have always given notice to a person that I’m going to harm,” Çakıcı said in the statement, which was later deleted.

Çakıcı had praised Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli and accused Erdoğan of being “less nationalist” in a previous statement made after the elections.

“Pray for Mr. Bahçeli and his colleagues as you pray for your parents. You can do whatever you want to me,” Çakıcı said to Erdoğan, who has been re-elected president.

In May, Bahçeli called for a general amnesty for notorious mafia leaders Çakıcı and Kürşat Yılmaz, who were part of the “Grey Wolves,” a term MHP members and supporters use to describe themselves.

However, Erdoğan has repeatedly rejected Bahçeli’s call.

Bahçeli also paid a visit to gang leader Çakıcı in a hospital on May 23.

Following Çakıcı’s threats, İstanbul police have increased security around the Karar daily’s building, while columnists have been assigned bodyguards.

Turkey is ranked 157th among 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). If Turkey falls two more places, it will make it to the list of countries on the blacklist, which have the poorest record in press freedom.

Turkey is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world. The most recent figures documented by SCF show that 243 journalists and media workers were in jail as of June 27, 2018, most in pretrial detention. Of those in prison 184 were under arrest pending trial while only 59 journalists have been convicted and are serving their time. Detention warrants are outstanding for 143 journalists who are living in exile or remain at large in Turkey.

Detaining tens of thousands of people over alleged links to the Gülen movement, the government also closed down some 200 media outlets, including Kurdish news agencies and newspapers, after a coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016. (SCF with turkishmimnute.com)

The post Turkish mafia leader threatens newspaper boss, columnists over report appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.

from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-mafia-leader-threatens-newspaper-boss-columnists-over-report/