Turkey, under the rule of its strongman Erdogan, continues to exercise repression of the press with its latest investigation of a newspaper that did nothing more than reprint excerts from Charlie Hebdo.
The regime already owns the distinction of world's largest jailer of journalists
Measuring strictly in terms of imprisonments, Turkey—a longtime American ally, member of NATO, and showcase Muslim democracy—appears to be the most repressive country in the world.
According to the Journalists Union of Turkey, ninety-four reporters are currently imprisoned for doing their jobs. More than half are members of the Kurdish minority, which has been seeking greater freedoms since the Turkish republic was founded, in 1923. Many counts of arrested journalists go higher; the Friends of Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener, a group of reporters named for two imprisoned colleagues, has compiled a detailed list of a hundred and four journalists currently in prison there.
Not satisfied with that ugly effort investigators are now harassing a Turkish paper that had the audacity to be
je suis Charlie
Prosecutors in Istanbul have opened an investigation into Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet for publishing excerpts from French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, the newspaper said on its website on Thursday.
Cumhuriyet, a secular opposition newspaper, printed parts of Charlie Hebdo in an insert on Wednesday, one of five international editions of the satirical newspaper.
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The Turkish people deserve so much more than their leader provides.