Jiyar Gol, BBC World Bilingual correspondent and filmmaker, tweeted on Friday that he was detained by police at İstanbul’s Atatürk Airport and then deported from the country on Thursday because of his reports on Turkey.
According to the tweets posted by Gol, he was kept under custody for five hours.
“Yesterday, I was detained in İstanbul airport, searched, interrogated then deported, reasons my reports for the BBC,” Gol said in a tweet.
“Arrested in İstanbul airport, detained 5hes, deported. Reason, my reports,” Gol said in another tweet before adding: “I should correct this, detained for 5 hrs.”
Gol later announced that he landed in Erbil.
Deportation or imprisonment of foreign journalists due to their journalistic activities has become a common practice in Turkey that is the leading jailer of journalists in the world. The Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) has documented that 263 journalists are now in jails as of June 24, most in pre-trial detention languishing in notorious Turkish prisons without even a conviction. Of those in Turkish prisons, 239 are arrested pending trial, only 24 journalists remain convicted and serving time in Turkish prisons. An outstanding detention warrants remain for 105 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. (SCF with turkishminute.com) June 30, 2017
