What's next for Turkey's journalists following post-coup crackdown?
The matter of suppressing the freedom of press in Turkey is getting very serious.
Aug. 30 is the date of the decisive victory won against the invading Greek force in 1922 that led to the foundation of the Republic of Turkey a year later. Since then, every year, Aug. 30 is a national holiday celebrated as “Holiday of Victory.” In effect, it is “Army Day.”
This year, because of the trauma of the failed July 15 coup attempt, military parades in the major cities of Turkey and celebratory cocktail receptions in the country and abroad did not take place.
Replacing the fanfare of previous years was a surprise: a new wave of intimidation and suppression of independent journalism. The day began with police raids on the homes of various world-renowned journalists.
We learned from Platform 24 that “on Aug. 30, detention warrants were issued for 35 journalists as part of the probe launched into the July 15 coup d’etat attempt, officially called the ‘Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETO/PDY)’ investigation. Nine of the 35 individuals on the most recent list were detained in raids that started at dawn.”
