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'Black Friday' of Turkish democracy

Three events from Feb. 16. — a deal to release a Turkish-German journalist, the verdict against three prominent journalists and censorship in the trial of a prominent Turkish-Kurdish politician — demonstrate how Turkey's democracy is being undermined.
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Turkey is living in mind-boggling times. Everything can change and then reverse back in the blink of an eye.

Feb. 16, 2018, was one of those days. Let’s begin with Turkish-German journalist Deniz Yucel, who has been under arrest for unfounded terror charges. Yucel was unexpectedly released from where he spent more than a year. And although his case is pending trial, the travel ban on him was lifted and Yucel was able to head for Berlin on a private jet sent by German authorities.

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