Turkey Charged Two Journalists with Treason for Publishing Footage Showing Intelligence Agency Shipping Truckloads of Weapons to Opposition Fighters in Syria in Early 2014
April 3, 2016
Reuters
- Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused U.S. counterpart Barack
Obama of going behind his back for criticizing Turkey's press freedom
record and linked it to efforts to "divide" Turkey, media reports said
on Sunday.
Obama
said on Friday after meeting Erdogan on the sidelines of a nuclear
summit in Washington that he was troubled by curbs on the press in
Turkey and said he had urged Erdogan not to repress democratic debate in
his country.
Turkey
has drawn international condemnation for charging two journalists with
treason for publishing footage that purportedly showed the intelligence
agency shipping truckloads of weapons to opposition fighters in Syria in
early 2014. Can Dundar and Erdem Gul of Cumhuriyet face life in prison.
"I
was saddened to hear that statement made behind my back. During my talk
with Obama, those issues did not come up," Erdogan told reporters,
according to Hurriyet daily.
He returned to Turkey after a five-day trip
to Washington on Sunday.
"You cannot consider insults and threats press freedom or criticism," Erdogan said.
Turkey
has seized control of opposition newspapers and TV channels and cut the
satellite feed of a pro-Kurdish channel, accusing them of
terrorism-related activities. Erdogan has personally brought more than
1,800 criminal suits against individuals, including journalists and
children, for insulting him since becoming president in 2014.
The
Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 13 journalists are in
jail for their coverage and described a "massive crackdown" that
includes self-censorship and harassment of media-business owners.
Criticism
of Turkey's press record seeks to "divide, shatter and if they could,
swallow up Turkey," he said. "This is what I mean by mastermind. A
mastermind is playing games over Turkey.
Erdogan
and his supporters occasionally refer to a shadowy foreign "mastermind"
that seeks to destabilize Turkey, a NATO member that shares borders
with Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Separately,
Erdogan said the U.S. and Turkey had edged closer in their stances on
Syrian Kurds, close U.S. allies in the fight against Islamic State.
Turkey
sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and its political arm, the PYD, as
part of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a
three-decade insurgency against Turkey. U.S. officials have said they
distinguish between the groups.
Both
Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry promised
Erdogan during meetings they would not allow the formation of a PYD-run
state in Syria, the Turkish leader said.
Turkey
is putting forth the names of 2,400 trained
Arab and Turkmen fighters
to battle Islamic State, Erdogan also said, describing them as part of
the moderate opposition. This was "so the U.S. no longer has an excuse"
for co-operating with the YPG and PYD, he said.
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