Turkey: Stranger than fiction

August 20th, 2010

The Turkish government’s battle with the PKK threatens to stifle art itself, says Kaya Genç
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Quotes costs Turkish journalist prison sentence

June 9th, 2010

Irfan Atkan has been sentenced to 15 months in prison under Turkey’s draconian anti-terror laws
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Turkey: Journalists sentenced and fined for ‘propaganda’

June 8th, 2010

Two employees of Turkey’s Express periodical have been convicted of “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation”. Journalist Irfan Aktan was sentenced to 15 months in prison while editorial manager Merve Erol was fined TL 16,000 (€ 8,000). The charges stem from an article published last September entitled “Weather conditions in the Qandil region/No solution without fighting”. The Qandil mountains are home to camps run by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and several high-ranking members of the militant organisation. The journalists’ defence argued the article was written at a time when the discussions about the Kurdish initiative had just started and when PKK members had started to surrender.

Turkish mayor sentenced to one year detention for ‘Kurdistan’ reference

April 29th, 2010

Selim Sadak, mayor of the city of Siirt in south-eastern Turkey, was sentenced to 1 year’s imprisonment on 26 April after being found guilty of “spreading PKK propaganda”. Sadak’s conviction is came after he used the term “Kurdiastan” in a statement given to a journalist.

Kurdish newspaper editor jailed for 21 years

February 11th, 2010

Ozan Kilinc, editor of Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat, has been sentenced to 21 years in jail for publishing ‘Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) propaganda’. Comments or acts judged supportive of the PKK are a serious crime in Turkey. The PKK, branded a terrorist organisation, launched an armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in 1984.