The price of press freedom in Turkey? A jail cell

Two Turkish journalists accused of espionage and aiding a terrorist organization have been sent to prison by a court in Istanbul late Thursday.

The video footage, released in May, purported to show Turkish police opening crates of weapons and ammunition bound for Syria on the back of state security agency (MIT) trucks.

“What we have done here was a journalistic activity”, Dundar said before testifying to prosecutors November 26.

Turkey has said it only supports moderate rebels in Syria, although it wants to see the Assad government toppled.

As to whether the trucks were carrying arms: “So what if they were, so what if they weren’t?” he said. Reporters With out Borders rates the country 149th of 180 countries in its 2015 Press Freedom Index.

“They ask us why we published that story”, Dundar said, according to BBC.

Journalists from one of few remaining independent newspapers in Turkey, Cumhuriyet, whose editors were recently, arrested, have spoken to RT from their Istanbul office, sharing what they know about Turkey’s alleged connections with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

“Journalism is being put on trial with these arrests and the Turkish press is being intimidated”, Utku Cakirozer, a deputy from the main opposition CHP and a former chief editor of Cumhuriyet, told Reuters.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan filed an individual criminal complaint against Dundar and Cumhuriyet on June 2, claiming that the story “included some footage and information that are not factual” while saying the person “who wrote the story will pay a heavy price”.

Mehmet Yilmaz, columnist at daily Hurriyet newspaper, was also critical.

There has been growing concern about deteriorating press freedoms in Turkey under Erdogan and in particular over the numbers of journalists facing legal proceedings on accusations of insulting or criticising top officials.

Turkey says Russian Federation is targeting moderate Syrian opposition groups, including Turkmens, in its aerial bombardment in Syria. We are not traitors, spy, or heroes; we are journalists. Dundar and Gul are being held at a prison in Istanbul.

In February, Mr Dundar, 54, was called to testify on separate charges of insulting Mr Erdogan, one of scores of such cases opened since Mr Erdogan moved from the prime ministry to the presidency a year ago.

Human Rights Commissioner with the Council of Europe Nils Muiznieks stated that the arrests were “another blow to media freedom in Turkey”.