Veteran journalist Şahin Alpay, who was imprisoned following a coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016, has saidin an interview that many of his colleagues arrested in a post-coup purge were victims of trumped-up charges.
In the interview with fellow journalist Ruşen Çakır, Alpay discussed his newly published memoir, in which he reflects on his 14-year career at the now-closed Zaman newspaper and his time in prison. Alpay said none of the journalists he worked with at Zaman had prior knowledge of the coup, despite the allegations made against them in legal proceedings.
The Zaman daily, which was Turkey’s best-selling newspaper, was closed down by the Turkish government following the coup attempt on July 15, 2016 due to its alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement.
The government accuses the movement of masterminding the failed coup, although the movement strongly denies any involvement.
Many journalists writing for the daily faced charges related to the failed coup and were accused of having prior knowledge of the abortive putsch and sending messages in favor of it.
Several Zaman executives and journalists had to flee Turkey before and after the paper’s closure, fearing unlawful arrest due to a government crackdown on the movement before the coup attempt that intensified after it.
Some Zaman journalists who stayed in Turkey were arrested and handed down lengthy sentences due to their alleged links to the movement,
“My colleagues at Zaman never supported a coup; however, they served years in prisons on false charges,” he said. “I, too, was portrayed as one of the people responsible for a military coup attempt.”
Alpay said these accusations were deeply painful for him at the time.
“In the initial indictment, prosecutors sought three aggravated life sentences against me. For what? Attempting a coup. Nothing could be more absurd. Just days before my arrest, I had written an article stating that military coups have caused great harm to Turkey and that such an event would be a disaster. Yet, they still jailed me. I have always advocated for ending military tutelage and transitioning to a truly democratic regime. I have opposed military coups my entire life. That’s why being imprisoned so unfairly deeply hurt me.”
Alpay added that even as a veteran journalist, he still felt the need to self-censor. He had initially wanted to include a selection of his articles from Zaman, as the newspaper is banned and no longer accessible. However, after discussing it with his editor, they ultimately decided against it.
“Not only did my articles contain no criminal elements, but I also believed they were important as eyewitness accounts of that period. However, after thinking it over, we decided not to include them in the book for now to avoid any trouble.”
Alpay was arrested in July 2016 and remained in pretrial detention until until March 2018, when he was released under house arrest after a ruling by Turkey’s Constitutional Court. His house arrest was lifted a few months later, but Alpay was eventually sentenced to almost nine years in prison on July 6, 2018. He was not incarcerated due to old age and poor health.
Turkey, which suffers from a poor press freedom record, was ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters without Borders.
