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| Turkey’s climate of fear and censorship | Turkey’s climate of fear and censorship |
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| As writers committed to protecting and defending freedom of expression around the world, we, the undersigned, are extremely concerned about the increasing climate of fear and censorship and the stifling of critical voices in Turkey. | As writers committed to protecting and defending freedom of expression around the world, we, the undersigned, are extremely concerned about the increasing climate of fear and censorship and the stifling of critical voices in Turkey. |
| In recent years, the Turkish authorities have made extraordinary efforts to silence critics and dissent, as documented in PEN’s recent report on free expression in the country. This has had an impact on all areas of Turkish society, from the harsh repression of peaceful protesters in Gezi Park; to the increasing crackdown on freedom of expression online; to the arrest and detention of dozens of writers, journalists and academics. In the last two years, half of all freedom of expression related cases brought before the European court of human rights concerned Turkey. Current legislation and surveillance practices not only diminish freedom of speech for the country’s writers and journalists but seriously threaten the fundamental rights and freedoms of tens of millions of individuals. | In recent years, the Turkish authorities have made extraordinary efforts to silence critics and dissent, as documented in PEN’s recent report on free expression in the country. This has had an impact on all areas of Turkish society, from the harsh repression of peaceful protesters in Gezi Park; to the increasing crackdown on freedom of expression online; to the arrest and detention of dozens of writers, journalists and academics. In the last two years, half of all freedom of expression related cases brought before the European court of human rights concerned Turkey. Current legislation and surveillance practices not only diminish freedom of speech for the country’s writers and journalists but seriously threaten the fundamental rights and freedoms of tens of millions of individuals. |
| In the last 12 months alone, a number of disturbing developments have led to the greater restriction and repression of free speech: amendments to the internal security law giving police powers to conduct surveillance without a warrant, the repeated blocking of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and the shutting down of leftwing and Kurdish websites. Additionally, a number of books have either been censored or banned. | In the last 12 months alone, a number of disturbing developments have led to the greater restriction and repression of free speech: amendments to the internal security law giving police powers to conduct surveillance without a warrant, the repeated blocking of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and the shutting down of leftwing and Kurdish websites. Additionally, a number of books have either been censored or banned. |
| Related: 100 writers call for release of Turkish journalists on eve of espionage trial | |
| Recent months have also seen an aggressive campaign by President Erdoğan to stifle his critics through the lodging of complaints alleging insult to the president, an offence which carries a four-year prison term. According to Turkey’s justice minister, as many as 1,845 of these cases have been opened since President Erdoğan came to office in 2014. For example, in February 2016, an investigation was launched against Atalay Girgin for insulting the president in his book Lağımpaşalı, which narrates the fable of a group of rats. | Recent months have also seen an aggressive campaign by President Erdoğan to stifle his critics through the lodging of complaints alleging insult to the president, an offence which carries a four-year prison term. According to Turkey’s justice minister, as many as 1,845 of these cases have been opened since President Erdoğan came to office in 2014. For example, in February 2016, an investigation was launched against Atalay Girgin for insulting the president in his book Lağımpaşalı, which narrates the fable of a group of rats. |
| On 26 November 2015 Can Dündar, the editor-in-chief of Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, and his Ankara bureau chief, Erdem Gül, were arrested. They were charged with espionage and other national security offences, in relation to the publication of video and photographic evidence in Cumhuriyet in May 2015 of arms deliveries by the Turkish intelligence services to Islamist groups in Syria. Following a constitutional court ruling that their imprisonment was a violation of their rights, both were released; however, the criminal charges against them remain. Their trial begins tomorrow. We believe that Can Dündar and Erdem Gül are facing life in prison simply for carrying out their legitimate work as journalists. | On 26 November 2015 Can Dündar, the editor-in-chief of Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, and his Ankara bureau chief, Erdem Gül, were arrested. They were charged with espionage and other national security offences, in relation to the publication of video and photographic evidence in Cumhuriyet in May 2015 of arms deliveries by the Turkish intelligence services to Islamist groups in Syria. Following a constitutional court ruling that their imprisonment was a violation of their rights, both were released; however, the criminal charges against them remain. Their trial begins tomorrow. We believe that Can Dündar and Erdem Gül are facing life in prison simply for carrying out their legitimate work as journalists. |
| Over a thousand academics are under investigation for signing a statement calling for an end to military operations in south-east Turkey. Journalists trying to report from the area have been denied access and some have been arrested. Three journalists have been killed since November 2015, reflecting the increasingly dangerous situation for reporters in the region. In another widely condemned move, on 4 March 2016, court-appointed trustees took over the management of Feza Media Group, which includes the opposition Zaman and Today’s Zaman daily papers as well as the Cihan news agency. | Over a thousand academics are under investigation for signing a statement calling for an end to military operations in south-east Turkey. Journalists trying to report from the area have been denied access and some have been arrested. Three journalists have been killed since November 2015, reflecting the increasingly dangerous situation for reporters in the region. In another widely condemned move, on 4 March 2016, court-appointed trustees took over the management of Feza Media Group, which includes the opposition Zaman and Today’s Zaman daily papers as well as the Cihan news agency. |
| Freedom of expression – a right enshrined in Turkey’s constitution – is the cornerstone of a democratic and fair society. For a society to be open, free and diverse, individuals must be able to live without fear of reprisals or censorship for what they believe or express. We urge Ahmet Davutoğlu to release all writers imprisoned in Turkey simply for their peaceful exercise of free speech, to drop similar charges against all others, including Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, and to amend or repeal all legislation which unduly restricts freedom of expression. | Freedom of expression – a right enshrined in Turkey’s constitution – is the cornerstone of a democratic and fair society. For a society to be open, free and diverse, individuals must be able to live without fear of reprisals or censorship for what they believe or express. We urge Ahmet Davutoğlu to release all writers imprisoned in Turkey simply for their peaceful exercise of free speech, to drop similar charges against all others, including Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, and to amend or repeal all legislation which unduly restricts freedom of expression. |
| Abraham T Zere PEN EritreaAdonis (Ali Ahmad Said Esber)Aleid TrujensAlejandro Sánchez-AizcorbeAlfredo de Zayas PEN Suisse RomandÁlvaro DurandAndrey Bitov Russian PENAnthony CohanAntonio Della Rocca Trieste PENArpad VickoBei Ling Independent Chinese PEN Centre Breyten Breytenbach PEN AfrikaansBurhan Sönmez Writers Circle memberCarles Torner PEN InternationalCarlos Rene Garcia Escobar PEN GuatemalaCarmes Arenas PEN CatalàChristoph RansmayrColm Tóibín Writers Circle memberDavid Lagercrantz Writers Circle memberDavid BezmozgisDBC PierreDrew Campbell Scottish PENEce TemelkuranElfriede JelinekElif Shafak Writers Circle memberElisabeth NordgrenEmile Martel PEN QuebecEmmanuel PierratEugene Schoulgin PEN International vice-presidentFflur DafyddFrankie Asare-Donkoh Ghanaian PENFreya KlierGabrielle AliothGillian ClarkeGloria Guardia PEN International vice-presidentGojko BozovicGustáv MurínGyörgy DragománGwyneth LewisHanan al-Shaykh Writers Circle memberHanan Awwad Palestinian PENHans-Christian OeserHerta MüllerHomero Aridjis PEN International president emeritus; Writers Circle memberJarkko TontiJennifer Clement PEN International presidentJiro Asada PEN Japan; Writers Circle memberJM Coetzee PEN International vice-president Joanne Leedom-Ackerman PEN International; Writers Circle memberJohn Ralston Saul PEN International president emeritus; Writers Circle memberJosef Haslinger German PENJudith Rodriguez Writers Circle memberJudyth Hill San Miguel PENKarl Ove Knausgaard Writers Circle memberKay Boland Irish PENKirsten ThorupKirsty GunnLauren BeukesLucina Kathmann PEN International Luisa Valenzuela PEN Argentina Madgda Carneci PEN RomaniaMagali Tercero PEN MexicoMandla LangaManon Uphoff PEN NetherlandsMarcela Valencia TsuchiyaMargaret Atwood PEN International vice-president; Writers Circle memberMargie Orford PEN South AfricaMaría Gabriela MizrajeMario Vargas Llosa PEN International president emeritusMartin Putnam PEN Centre USAMaureen Freely English PENMenna Elfyn PEN Wales CymruMichael OndaatjeMilan R Simic Mille RodeMonica AliMoris Farhi PEN International vice-presidentNeda Nikolić Bobić Nedzad Ibrahimovic PEN Bosnia-Herzegovina Nguyên Hoàng Bao Viêt PEN Suisse RomandNicholas Kawinga Zambian PENOla Larsmo Swedish PENOwen SheersPatricia MoreyPer Wästberg PEN International president emeritusPer Øhrgaard Danish PENPeter ZilahyRandy Boyagoda PEN CanadaRohinston MistryRonald Harwood PEN International president emeritusSalil Tripathi PEN InternationalSirpa Kähkönen Finnish PENSjón Icelandic PENSofi Oksanen Writers Circle memberSuzanne Nossel PEN AmericaTulio Mora PEN PeruVelimir KostovVida Ognjenovic PEN Serbia; Writers Circle memberVladislav BajacVonne van der Meer William Nygaard Norwegian PENYann Martel Writers Circle memberZaradecht Hajo Kurdish PENZeynep Oral Turkish PEN | Abraham T Zere PEN EritreaAdonis (Ali Ahmad Said Esber)Aleid TrujensAlejandro Sánchez-AizcorbeAlfredo de Zayas PEN Suisse RomandÁlvaro DurandAndrey Bitov Russian PENAnthony CohanAntonio Della Rocca Trieste PENArpad VickoBei Ling Independent Chinese PEN Centre Breyten Breytenbach PEN AfrikaansBurhan Sönmez Writers Circle memberCarles Torner PEN InternationalCarlos Rene Garcia Escobar PEN GuatemalaCarmes Arenas PEN CatalàChristoph RansmayrColm Tóibín Writers Circle memberDavid Lagercrantz Writers Circle memberDavid BezmozgisDBC PierreDrew Campbell Scottish PENEce TemelkuranElfriede JelinekElif Shafak Writers Circle memberElisabeth NordgrenEmile Martel PEN QuebecEmmanuel PierratEugene Schoulgin PEN International vice-presidentFflur DafyddFrankie Asare-Donkoh Ghanaian PENFreya KlierGabrielle AliothGillian ClarkeGloria Guardia PEN International vice-presidentGojko BozovicGustáv MurínGyörgy DragománGwyneth LewisHanan al-Shaykh Writers Circle memberHanan Awwad Palestinian PENHans-Christian OeserHerta MüllerHomero Aridjis PEN International president emeritus; Writers Circle memberJarkko TontiJennifer Clement PEN International presidentJiro Asada PEN Japan; Writers Circle memberJM Coetzee PEN International vice-president Joanne Leedom-Ackerman PEN International; Writers Circle memberJohn Ralston Saul PEN International president emeritus; Writers Circle memberJosef Haslinger German PENJudith Rodriguez Writers Circle memberJudyth Hill San Miguel PENKarl Ove Knausgaard Writers Circle memberKay Boland Irish PENKirsten ThorupKirsty GunnLauren BeukesLucina Kathmann PEN International Luisa Valenzuela PEN Argentina Madgda Carneci PEN RomaniaMagali Tercero PEN MexicoMandla LangaManon Uphoff PEN NetherlandsMarcela Valencia TsuchiyaMargaret Atwood PEN International vice-president; Writers Circle memberMargie Orford PEN South AfricaMaría Gabriela MizrajeMario Vargas Llosa PEN International president emeritusMartin Putnam PEN Centre USAMaureen Freely English PENMenna Elfyn PEN Wales CymruMichael OndaatjeMilan R Simic Mille RodeMonica AliMoris Farhi PEN International vice-presidentNeda Nikolić Bobić Nedzad Ibrahimovic PEN Bosnia-Herzegovina Nguyên Hoàng Bao Viêt PEN Suisse RomandNicholas Kawinga Zambian PENOla Larsmo Swedish PENOwen SheersPatricia MoreyPer Wästberg PEN International president emeritusPer Øhrgaard Danish PENPeter ZilahyRandy Boyagoda PEN CanadaRohinston MistryRonald Harwood PEN International president emeritusSalil Tripathi PEN InternationalSirpa Kähkönen Finnish PENSjón Icelandic PENSofi Oksanen Writers Circle memberSuzanne Nossel PEN AmericaTulio Mora PEN PeruVelimir KostovVida Ognjenovic PEN Serbia; Writers Circle memberVladislav BajacVonne van der Meer William Nygaard Norwegian PENYann Martel Writers Circle memberZaradecht Hajo Kurdish PENZeynep Oral Turkish PEN |
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