The editor-in-chief of pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency Elif Çetiner and journalist Melike Ceyhan have reportedly been detained as they were covering a report in Hacı Ahmet neighborhood of İstanbul province.
According to a report by pro-Kurdish Fırat news agency (ANF) journalist Çetiner and Ceyhan were stopped at the entrance of the neighborhood and were detained after an ID check. The journalists were reportedly taken to Kasımpaşa Police Station for questioning.
Turkey is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world. The most recent figures documented by the SCF has showed that 241 journalists and media workers are in jails as of February 16, 2018, most in pre-trial detention languishing in notorious Turkish prisons without even a conviction. Of those in Turkish prisons, 208 are arrested pending trial, only 33 journalists remain convicted and serving time in Turkish prisons. An outstanding detention warrants remain for 140 journalists who live in exile or remain at large in Turkey.
Detaining tens of thousands of people over alleged links to the Gülen movement, the government also closed down more than 180 media outlets after the controversial coup attempt.
