2 of 3 local journalists arrested in Turkey after interview with businessman jailed for Gülen links

Journalists Murat Güreş (L) and Furkan Gökşen

Two of three local journalists in Turkey’s Gaziantep province were arrested by a local court following they were detained by police after releasing an interview with jailed businessman Ahmet Selim Ener, who was imprisoned over alleged links to the Gülen movement.

According to the Cumhuriyet daily, Doğuş columnist Metin Aybey, Ayıntap columnist Murat Güreş and Detay Haber reporter Furkan Gökşen were taken into custody on Wednesday for violating a confidentiality order issued by the Gaziantep Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ener’s case. Güreş and Gökşen were arersted by a court with the same accusation.

The Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) has also documented that 272 journalists are now in jails as of July 26, most in pre-trial detention languishing in notorious Turkish prisons without even a conviction. Of those in Turkish prisons, 248 are arrested pending trial, only 24 journalists remain convicted and serving time in Turkish prisons. An outstanding detention warrants remain for 109 journalists who live in exile or remain at large in Turkey.

Detaining tens of thousands of people over alleged links to the movement, the government also closed down more than 180 media outlets after the controversial coup attempt.

After the attempted coup on July 15, 2016, the Turkish government and Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan put blame on the faith-based Gülen movement and launched a widespread with-hunt against its supporters across Turkey.

Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.

According to a tally by TurkeyPurge.com, nearly 146,000 people have been dismissed from government jobs, more than 122,00 detained and almost 57,000 arrested over links to the movement.

The Turkish government has also seized the assets of thousands of companies and jailed their owners over their alleged financial support for the Gülen movement.

Fethullah Gülen, whose views inspired the movement, strongly denies the accusations leveled by the Turkish government. (SCF with turkishminute.com)

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