Today In Crackdown

A huge cleansing of Turkey’s state and other institutions is continuing as people from all walks of life find themselves being hunted down and taken into custody. At least 91 people were arrested, while 233 others were detained over the past 24 hours, according to Turkish news agencies. Police carried out the operations in at […]

Suay Karaman, an academic at Ankara-based Gazi University and the general secretary of the Association of Academic Staff (TÜMÖD), was sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison, for his alleged insult to the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Friday. An İzmir court ruled that Karaman’s speech during a panel discussion, held in protest

Another local mayor on Friday banned a Turkish movie directed by Mahsun Kırmızıgül, claiming that the comedy runs against the national and spiritual values of Turkey. The mayor of the Sandıklı district of Afyon province, Mustafa Çöl from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), followed suit after another local district mayor, Mehmet Türe

Turkey’s Supreme Council of Radio and Television (RTÜK) restricted broadcasting of ‘breaking news’ in Turkish televisions during the state of emergency rule. According to Birgün daily, officials from RTÜK told TV executives in a meeting on Wednesday that broadcasting of ‘breaking news’ especially with regards to ‘incidents threatening national security,’ such as terror attacks, will

A total of seventeen university students were arrested by a Turkish court on Wednesday in an investigation targeting the Gülen movement, which the Turkish government blames for a failed coup last July. According to the pro-gov’t Sabah daily, police detained 38 people on Jan 6 in simultaneous raids across İstanbul. Of those, 17 were sent

A Turkish court ruled for the arrest of a total of 11 police officers on Wednesday over alleged links to the Gülen movement, the pro-gov’t Yeni Akit daily has reported. According to the report, 36 police officers were detained last week in simultaneous raids across Sivas province. Of those, 11 were sent to jail on

Fatih Mehmet Aksoy, a Kırşehir judge who has been overseeing an investigation into the police officers who was alleged to have used controversial ByLock mobile application, was suspended over the same charges. Turkish prosecutors claim that ByLock is the top communication tool among members of the Gülen movement, which the government accuses of masterminding the

Gendarmerie forces rounded up 20 people in Turkey’s border province of Edirne as they were attempting to flee to Greece on Thursday. State-run Anadolu Agency said the detainees were among hundreds of thousands of people who were dismissed as part of Turkey’s sweeping post-coup witch hunt. Edirne is a popular departure spot for both civil

A total of fifteen people, including police officers, teachers and school principles were arrested by a Turkish court on Wednesday in an investigation targeting the Gülen movement, which the Turkish government blames for a failed coup last July. According to the report, police detained 28 people early on Wednesday in simultaneous raids across Antalya province.

Turkey has suffered a dramatic decline in freedoms in the last decade according to a report by Freedom House in which it presented the second highest decline in the world along with the African nation of Gambia. According to a new ranking by Freedom House that was published on Tuesday in its “Freedom in the