Arrested journalist: I am on guard duty for democracy

Samanyolu Broadcasting Group (STV) head Hidayet Karaca was arrested on Dec. 14 over terrorism charges, sparking public outrage about press freedom in the country. (Photo: Today's Zaman)
Samanyolu Broadcasting Group (STV) head Hidayet Karaca was arrested on Dec. 14 over terrorism charges, sparking public outrage about press freedom in the country. (Photo: Today's Zaman)


Date posted: February 24, 2015

Samanyolu TV Group General Manager Hidayet Karaca, who has been under arrest since a government-backed police operation against independent media outlets on Dec. 14, 2014, stated in a letter on Monday that his imprisonment for the last 66 days without legal justification is a result of his being on guard duty for democracy.

Karaca, who was detained in the government-backed media crackdown on Dec. 14, 2014, along with Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı, directors and producers of a popular television series and police officers, was then arrested on Dec. 19 on the suspicion of heading a terrorist group based on a TV series that was broadcast years ago on his television station.

In his letter, Karaca thanked all those who have showed him full support since he has been in jail, including parliamentarians who visited him in Silivri Prison in İstanbul. Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputies Oktay Ekşi, Mahmut Tanal, Sezgin Tanrıkulu and Ali Özgündüz as well as independent parliamentarians İlhan İşbilen, Hakan Şükür, Hasan Hami Yıldırım, Muhammed Çetin and Democratic Progress Party (DGP) leader İdris Bal were some of the deputies who have visited Karaca in Silivri Prison.

Karaca’s letter, titled “Guard Duty for Democracy,” was released in a press statement on Monday. Underlining the restrictions that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has placed on Turkish media outlets, Karaca said that he is in prison because of two pieces of dialogues in the popular “Tek Türkiye” (One Turkey) TV series, a fictional soap opera that portrayed anti-terrorist battles in Turkey and aired on Samanyolu TV in 2009. Expressing his sorrow over Turkey’s poor image in the world with regard to democracy and freedom, Karaca ended his letter by saying, “A beautiful spring comes after every severe winter. Flowers blossom in spring.”

As the İstanbul First Penal Court of Peace has issued an order of confidentiality regarding the Dec. 14 investigation, the suspects and their lawyers have not been allowed to see the content of the investigation files. The suspects were questioned as to whether they — in collaboration with the police — were part of a plot aimed at imprisoning members of an al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group known as Tahşiyeciler (Annotators). Several lines of dialogue in an episode of “Tek Türkiye” were used demonstrate Samanyolu’s alleged role in the imprisonment of several individuals associated with Tahşiyeciler in 2010.

The court also issued an arrest warrant for US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen on Dec. 19, 2014, claiming he is the leader of the group that targeted Tahşiyeciler; however, no evidence has been provided.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Party have targeted the faith-based Gülen movement, inspired by the teachings of Gülen and also popularly known as the Hizmet movement, accusing it of being behind graft probes of government corruption that went public in December 2013 as part of an effort to unseat the current government. Both the Zaman daily and the Samanyolu Broadcasting Group are affiliated with the Hizmet movement.

Source: Today's Zaman , February 17, 2015


Related News

Cabinet bans charity Kimse Yok Mu from collecting donations

The Taraf daily ran a story arguing that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government planned to remove Kimse Yok Mu’s public interest status, which would prevent it from collecting donations. The report argued that the proposal was pending with the Cabinet, expecting it to take effect before the Eid al-Adha holiday.

AK Party takes action to expel deputy who opposed closure of prep schools

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) referred Kütahya deputy İdris Bal — who opposed the government’s planned closure of prep schools (dershanes) — to the party’s disciplinary board for expulsion on Thursday. Bal, reiterating his opposition to the closure of prep schools, he said that such a move would violate the Constitution.

Somali students caring for the Soma orphans

The Somali students who were previously brought to Soma, Manisa, for study by Kimse Yok Mu Foundation (KYM) in 2011, recently donated stationery supplies for 105 orphans the mining disaster left behind.

TÜBİTAK official says forced to make changes to bugging device report

The former head of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey’s (TÜBİTAK) Research Center for Advanced Technologies on Informatics and Information Security (BİLGEM) has said he was forced to make changes in a report as part of an investigation into a “bugging device” found at the prime minister’s office.

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

Participants in the 33rd Abant Platform, which ended on Sunday in the northwestern town of Akçakoca, agreed that Turkey has lost its direction in both its domestic and foreign policy, saying the way to rectify this is to restore its commitment to the accession process into the European Union and the rule of law at home.

Turkey’s political weather forecast

A statement from the Higher Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) said a decree from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKParti) government was against the Turkish Constitution. The Board was mentioning the government’s Dec. 21 decree, asking prosecutors to inform local administrative authorities about their investigations, which was supposed to be confidential

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Pundits: plans to close down Turkish schools abroad arbitrary, political vandalism

Jurist’s report highlighting illegality of Karaca’s arrest submitted to top court

Abant Platform discusses thriving relations between Turkey and Africa

PM Erdoğan: Internet bill protesters are defenders of immorality

Turkish Schools will Build Bridges between Nigeria and the World

Turkey’s Refugee and Asylum Seeker Policy is being debated!

Mr. Minister, please look at yourself in the mirror

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News