The Turkish justice system ordered the arrest this Thursday morning to testify before the prosecutor’s office. six Turkish opposition journalistsaccused of publishing “false information” and of “help the criminal organization” supposedly created by the detainee Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu.
Of the six journalists, four have already been arrested. Among those persecuted are the editors-in-chief of two of the few independent media and newspapers left in Türkiye, OdaTV y Medyascope. Two weeks ago, the Turkish justice system already ordered the interposition of an intervener in the management of the television ‘Tele1’one of the last three television stations critical of the Turkish president’s government, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. All the workers at that television station resigned a few days later, and the fate of the network—which no longer broadcasts—is a mystery.
Among the journalists persecuted this Thursday is also the analyst Original Aydintasbasresident in Washingtonmember of the international think tank Brookings Institute and American newspaper columnist ‘The Washington Post’.
Harassment and demolition of the opposition mayor
According to the prosecution, these journalists have participated in and helped an organization that Turkish justice calls “Criminal Organization for the Benefit of Imamoglu”despite the fact that the mayor of Istanbul, arrested last March, has not been convicted of this accusation, nor of the majority of the 14 court cases that you have open against you. The last of them is of course espionage.
“These journalists were taken to the police station in an early morning operation, accompanied by the police, to be interrogated. Since there is no arrest warrantWhat were the police doing in their homes so early? Why were their phones confiscated? Couldn’t they have been summoned to the police station? This de facto detention constitutes a clear intimidation aimed at intimidating and silencing all opposition and free press. This systematic pressure on the press in Türkiye has become a real “witch hunt”declared this Thursday morning the deputy secretary general of the main Turkish opposition party, Burhanettin Bulut.
Pressure everywhere
Since the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul in March, the Turkish justice system has begun a total pressure campaign against the Republican People’s Party (CHPin its Turkish acronym).
From İmamoğlu to regional and district mayors, the party leadership and its general secretary, Özgür Özelthe prosecution has opened a string of investigations and court cases against the party, which managed to beat Erdogan’s party for the first time in the last local elections, two years ago.
In fact, according to the vast majority of surveys, Imamoglu would manage to defeat with a certain margin Erdogan in the next presidential electionsif Imamoglu manages to run for office.
Many experts consider that Türkiye, with these measures, arrests and judicial repression, is taking the Russian route, where the opposition —destroyed and domesticated—follows the leader’s orders, whether Vladimir Putin o Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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