A human rights group, the Concern African Youth Against Tyranny (CAYAT), has condemned the President Tayyip Erdoğan-led government in Turkey for clamping down on journalists and some Nigerians few month after a failed coup in the country.
The group demanded immediate release of all political prisoner in the country noting that Erdogan’s action against most people arrested including Nigerians is more of vendetta and to silent opposition.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, CAYAT Coordinator, Alhaji Abdulhakeem Ibraheem, explained that the Editor-in-Chief of a daily secular newspaper, Cumhuriyet, Murat Sabuncu and Columnist, Güray Öz were detained after police raided their residence on Monday.
According to him, Police raided Sabuncu and Öz’s residence along with the house of the newspaper Chief Executive Officer, Akın Atalay and columnist Hikmet Çetinkaya, adding that Police carried out the journalists arrest on the order of an İstanbul Court which issued detention warrants against 13 people which includes journalists, columnists and administrative officers from Cumhuriyet.
Abdulhakeem added that a pro- government daily newspaper, Sabah, confirmed that an İstanbul Court issued detention warrants for 13 journalists from Cumhuriyet newspaper over charges of helping terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and FETO.
In his words, “FETO is a derogatory term and acronym of Fethullah Terrorist Organization, coined by President Tayyip Erdoğan supported by Justice and Development Party (AKP) government to refer to USA based Gülen, the main opposition of Erdogan’s government.”
He said another daily newspaper, Hürriyet,wrote that a detention warrant was also issued against Cumhuriyet newspaper CEO, Atalay while his residence was raided after security operatives got signal that he travelled abroad.
“Hürriyet newspaper also reported that Police also searched residences of Cumhuriyet Foundation executives Turan Günay and Bülent Utku,” he said.
He stressed that another pro-government newspaper, Yeni Şafak reported on its website that these media men were being investigated over alleged links to.( ……..Gülen), a Turkish scholar residing in the United States.
“Cumhuriyet’s former Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar was sentenced to six years for publishing state secrets involving Ankara’s Syria operations.
“His conviction sparked censure from rights groups and Western governments worried about worsening human rights in Turkey under President Tayyip Erdoğan,” Abdulhakeem emphasised.
He said Police operations to Cumhuriyet newspaper editors, columnists and executives come after the government last weekend, dismissed another 10,000 civil servants and closed 15 more media outlets over suspected links with militant groups and Gülen.
“More than 100,000 people had already been sacked or suspended and nearly 75,000 detained and 37,000 arrested since the failed coup attempt in an unprecedented crackdown that Erdoğan says is crucial to wipe out Gülen’s network from the state apparatus,” he explained.
He gave the number of victims of Erdogan’s despot acts to include 105,097 civil servants that
got sacked, 74,561 people detained, 34,087 arrested 2,099
schools, dormitories and universities shut down.
Others are 6,337 academician who lost their jobs, 3,640 judges and prosecutors dismissed, 186 media outlets shut down and 133 journalists arrested since July 15, 2016 as of last weekend.
Some of the dismissed state officials, teachers, bureaucrats and academics were thrown out of their job through the government decrees, No. 672 issued on Sept. 1, 2016 and No. 675 issued on October 29, 2016 respectively.
There are academician who lost their jobs through Government’s Decrees, No. 677 issued on July 23, 2016 and No.675 issued on Oct. 29, 2016 apart from teachers whose licenses were revoked by Turkey’s Education Ministry on July 19, 2016; and media personnel and journalists who lost their jobs since the coup attempt couple of months ago.
Erdoğan and AKP had accused the US-based Turkish scholar of being the brain behind the failed coup attempt on July 15.
