Turkish Gov’t media targets exiled journalists, their lives at risk


Date posted: September 27, 2016

Following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statement that no country is safe for Gülen movement sympathizers, the pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) media targeted exiled journalists in the US and Europe on Monday.

The Sabah daily, which was run by Serhat Albayrak, brother of Berat Albayrak, the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, published a story on Monday about investigative journalist Aydoğan Vatandaş, who lives in the US, claiming that he was whistleblower “Fuat Avni.” Publishing secretly taken photos and videos of Vatandaş, who used to write articles for The Huffington Post and Today’s Zaman, the daily labeled him a terrorist.

In another story published by the pro-Erdoğan daily Yeni Şafak, exiled journalists, including former Today’s Zaman Editor-in-Chief Bülent Keneş, were claimed to be living in Europe and engaged in efforts to create a multilingual news website with funds supplied by Germany and Austria. The daily also claimed that Gülen sympathizer journalists have been working on a TV channel in Germany.

The AKP government has speeded up a media crackdown since a July 15 foiled coup attempt. The government has closed down more than 130 media organizations and jailed in excess of 120 journalists. Dozens of critical journalists have left Turkey due to the crackdown.

The news stories came after President Erdoğan on Sept. 19 threatened followers of the faith-based Gülen movement living all over the world, saying that no country is safe for them.

“No country, no region anywhere in the world, is a safe haven for FETÖ [an acronym the government has been using to refer to the Gülen movement] and militants,” said Erdoğan during a press conference at İstanbul Atatürk Airport, before flying to New York for the UN General Assembly.

In August, the pro-government media threatened critical journalists with extrajudicial killings. During a program on Kanal 24, Ersoy Dede and Hikmet Genc were discussing how to get rid of critical journalists living in exile by bringing to mind the ASALA case.

Dede said that “In this country, I witnessed how ASALA was finished [off]. One morning we will wake up and see some scum being caught at Sabiha Gokcen Airport. The media will cover the story like this: “Tuncay Opcin, Emre Uslu and Ekrem Dumanli …”

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) has been tasked with locating, arresting and even killing military officers who fled Turkey after allegedly taking part in a failed coup attempt in July, according a story in the Vatan daily on Aug. 30.

Source: Turkish Minute , September 26, 2016

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Greek Orthodox Bishop Demetrios Honored

Bishop Demetrios received the Niagara Foundation’s Fethullah Gulen Award during the 5th Annual Peace and Dialogue Awards program held on May 4 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the city’s downtown. An estimated 250 people turned out for the event, including local religious leaders from such denominations as the Episcopal church, the Jewish faith and the […]

Brazil court orders release of Gulen-linked businessman accused by Ankara of terrorism

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court ordered Tuesday the release of a Brazil-based Turkish businessman who was arrested over links to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Russian analyst: Turkey’s claim Gülen was behind envoy’s killing insult to ‘our intelligence’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s claim that US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen was behind the assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey on Monday is an insult to Russian intelligence, a prominent Russian analyst said.

Police raid building Fethullah Gülen resided in 55 years ago

Edirne police, joined by a group of gendarmes, stormed a building in the city where US-based Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen resided in 55 years ago when he worked as an imam at the famous Üç Şerefeli Mosque.

Turkish business suffers under Erdogan’s post-coup Gulen purge

Critics of the ruling AKP expect it to sell Gulen-linked companies to government allies in the business world at a large discount. In mid-October the AKP-linked Metro Holding applied to the TMSF to acquire all of Koza Ipek Holding’s shares. Akin Ipek, the fugitive former owner of the conglomerate, asked on Twitter how Koza Ipek’s $600 million in cash and $20 billion in mining assets could be acquired by a comparatively unimpressive entity. Metro Holding’s capital comes to just over $95 million.

Ahmet Şık’s book and Ergenekon’s media campaign (3)

Emre Uslu, Sunday January 1, 2012 In a previous article I examined the media campaign against the Ergenekon trials and discussed Ahmet Şık. As I mentioned, the impact of Şık’s arrest was exaggerated because he was allegedly writing a book criticizing the Gülen movement’s influence in the police force, and his arrest was to prevent […]

Latest News

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

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Why does the West love the Gülen movement so much?

U.S. Not Persuaded to Extradite Fethullah Gulen Over Turkey Coup

Why did Turkey seize Bank Asya?

In Berlin, inside a Gulen “light-house”

Lawmakers from various countries call for better protection of female refugees

Fethullah Gulen Calls Crackdown ‘Dark Pages’ in History – Responses to World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

Islam: Peace or Terror | Fethullah Gulen’s Response

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News