Turkey charges journalists with “espionage”

In this Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015 photo, Can Dundar, right, the editor-in-chief of opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, and Erdem Gul, left, the paper’s Ankara representative, speak to the media outside a courthouse in Istanbul, Turkey.

Footage released by Cumhuriyet last May purportedly showed showed security forces opening crates on the back of trucks which contained what the newspaper said were weapons and ammunition sent to Syria by the Turkish intelligence agency MIT in January 2014.

The European Union (EU) has expressed concern over the arrest of two Turkish journalists on “espionage” charges after reports by the pair blew the lid off Ankara’s arms delivery to the Takfiri terror groups operating in neighboring Syria. He accused the paper of abetting Gulen’s movement and vowed to charge them for spying. The lawsuit was filed by none other than President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in which he alleged that the daily Cumhuriyet had engaged in acts of espionage by publishing what authorities considered a false claim.

Istanbul’s 7th Penal Court of Peace which is conducting the investigation into accusations against the two journalists, ordered Can Dundar and Erdem Gul put behind bars pending trial.

Crowds filled the yard and a street outside of Cumhuriyet’s headquarters, chanting: “Free press can not be silenced”.

Turkish officials insisted the footage printed by Cumhuriyet revealed humanitarian aid that was bound for the Turkmen people in Syria, which has strong ethnic ties with Turkey.

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.

An angry Erdogan said at the time Dundar would “pay a high price”. “This secret is a secret that belongs to the state, it is not a secret that belongs to him personally”, Today’s Zaman reported.

The pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party condemned the arrests “in the strongest possible terms”, in a statement signed by co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, which went on to accuse the Turkish government of backing extremist groups in Syria including the Islamic State (IS).

Opposition legislator Baris Yarkadas said: “The government does not want any journalist to see what kind of a calamity they have involved Turkey in”.

The U.S. embassy, in a tweet, expressed great concern about what it said appears to another media outlet under pressure.

Recent arrests also revived the criticism of Turkey’s handling of press freedom and weakening of the rule of law, both within Turkey and overseas.