White House concerned over arrest of Turkish journalists

The WHITE HOUSE
The WHITE HOUSE


Date posted: December 16, 2014

White House has expressed concerns over the arrest of Turkish journalists, including Zaman daily editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanlı, called on Ankara to conduct investigations in a manner consistent with the rule of law.

“We noted with concern the arrests of a number of journalists and other members of the media over the weekend,” White House National Security Council spokesman, Mark Stroh, said in a statement on Monday. He added that Washington has long maintained that freedom of the press is an essential element in all healthy, successful democracies.

“We urge the Turkish authorities to conduct investigations quickly, transparently, and in a manner consistent with the rule of law,” the statement stated.

Turkish media has been facing an unprecedented crackdown as the executives of Turkey’s two leading media outlets have been, since Sunday, in custody and are being questioned as part of a government-orchestrated police operation that has dealt a heavy blow to freedom of the press.

Dumanlı, Samanyolu Broadcasting Group General Manager Hidayet Karaca along with other journalists, scriptwriters, columnists, producers were detained in a sweeping operation on Sunday.

Source: Today's Zaman , December 16, 2014

Tags: | | | |


Related News

The Hizmet movement, social democracy, the religious left

The organizers announced that the conference would on the first day focus on “the Hizmet movement, inspired by the Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen, which is portrayed by many as an example of modern, ‘enlightened’ Islam, oriented towards dialogue and co-operation rather than conflict.

Mosque-cemevi project halted due to government’s ‘parallel paranoia’

Turkey’s first-ever complex housing both a mosque and a cemevi, an Alevi house of worship, has become the latest victim in the battle launched by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government against the Gülen movement after the Mamak Municipality refused to grant a certificate of occupancy to the complex on the grounds that it was built with “parallel funds.”

Turkey’s post-coup crackdown moves overseas

In several cases, Turkey has offered to run the seized institutions, although it is expected to face legal challenges. Kimse Yok Mu, which had more than 200,000 volunteers in 100 countries before being forcibly closed after the coup attempt, is understood to be preparing to take the decision to international courts. Joshua Hendrick, an expert on the Gulen movement said Ankara faced a big challenge when it came to stepping into the shoes of its former allies.

Parents seek TL 40,000 in damages for violation of students’ educational rights

Parents İsmail and Seval Topçuoğlu are seeking TL 40,000 in damages from the Education Ministry for violating students’ educational rights by adopting a new regulation about dershanes (prep schools), claiming it aims to bypass a top court’s ruling to annul a controversial law to close down the schools.

Nazarbayev says Kazakh-Turk schools belong to Kazakhstan, no extradition of teachers

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Thursday that Kazakh-Turk high schools that are allegedly linked to the faith-based Gülen movement belong to Kazakhstan and that Turkish teachers working at those schools will not be extradited to Turkey unless they are proven guilty of a crime.

Turkey’s Post-Coup Purge and Erdogan’s Private Army

A year later, Western intelligence officials and top Turkey analysts aren’t nearly so sure of Gulen’s complicity. Earlier this year, German spy chief Bruno Kahl revealed that Ankara has failed to convince the BND foreign intelligence agency that Gulen was behind the ill-planned and executed coup plot. “Turkey has tried to convince us of that at every level, but so far it has not succeeded,” Kahl told the German weekly Der Spiegel in March.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

MEP: International investigation into Turkey’s rule of law needed

Are there autonomous Hizmet groups?

Arresting police to make Erdoğan happy

2014: a difficult year?

GYV warns on provocative remarks, urges respect for peaceful protests

Palauan President: We would like to participate in Turkish Language Olympics

Final declaration of the 33rd Abant Platform: “Turkey direction”

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News