The Turkish government detained Austrian writer Max Zirngast in the country’s capital of Ankara on Tuesday for allegedly publishing terrorist propaganda, according to a Twitter post shared by left-wing Re:volt magazine
Zirngast, an independent commentator who contributed to publications such as Jacobin Magazine, was detained by Turkish police at 5 a.m., along with a group of others, the magazine said.
Since the controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the Turkish government led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been cracking down on media workers who allegedly support or have ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Gülen movement.
A recent report by the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) titled “The Clampdown on Foreign Journalists in Turkey” explains in detail how reporters from other countries face serious obstacles in Turkey that at times suggest a deliberate, systematic and calibrated policy by the government is, in fact, being implemented.
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 237 journalists and media workers were in jail as of September 6, 2018, most in pretrial detention. Of those in prison 169 were under arrest pending trial while only 68 journalists have been convicted and are serving their time. Detention warrants are outstanding for 147 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.
The post Turkish gov’t detains Austrian writer Zirngast on terror charges appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.
from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-govt-detains-austrian-writer-zirngast-on-terror-charges/
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