Erdogan’s crackdown on free speech & dissent continues, 9 journalists detained in Turkey

In the latest episode of crackdown on free speech and dissent in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, nine journalists affiliated from a minority community and an opposition group have been arrested.

Erdogan is among the world’s longet-ruling leaders and the country under his rule is widely considered to be an elected autocracy. He has ruled Turkey since 2003 with an iron fist and has systematically cracked down on political opposition, critics, and press. He has also pursued an Islamist brand of foreign policy where he has supported an ethnic cleansing of Armenians in 2023 and put his weight behind Islamist opposition groups in Syria over the past decade.

In the latest episode, three journalists of the Opposition-linked Halk TV have been detained over their coverage of an investigation into Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, according to Bloomberg News.

Imamoglu is accused of targeting an expert witness in a speech who prepared reports scrutinising Opposition-run local governments.

The three journalists have been arrested for disclosing the name of the expert and publishing a recording of their conversation with him, according to the report.

The detained journalists have been identified as Halk TV Managing Director Serhan Asker, presenter Seda Selek, Baris Pehlivan. They have been charged with “attempting to influence the expert” and “intercepting and recording conversations between individuals.”

Earlier in the month, six Kurdish journalists had been arrested from across Turkey.

While Turkey is home to a large Kurdish community, an ethnic minority, it has a long record of persecuting the community both within its borders and in neighbouring countries. In neighbouring Syria, where Kurds run an autonomous provincial government, Turkey is essentially waging a war against the community in alliance with Islamist militias.

The Turkish authorities said six journalists were members of a “terrorist organization”, which is a common charge used by Erdogan’s regime against journalists, according to VOA News.

Bianet Media Monitoring maintains that at least 24 journalists have been detained over the past two months.

The journalists’ arrests come after the arrest of Umit Ozdag, the leader of a nationalist party and a vocal critic of Erdogan, earlier this month.