The editor-in-chief of Turkish daily ‘Cumhuriyet’ and at least four other journalists, have been detained by the police.
According to CNN Türk, at least thirteen arrest warrents have been issued for the newspaper’s executives and journalists.
Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu was detained, and the authorities also raided the homes of Executive Board Chairman Akın Atalay and writer Güray Öz, state-run Anadolu Agency said.
In addition to Sabuncu, Öz, Aydın Engin, Hikmet Çetinkaya and Hakan Kara have all been detained in raids, ‘Cumhuriyet’ said, adding that the journalists have been prevented from meeting with lawyers for five days.
The journalists are accused of aiding the Gülenist movement and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Önder Çelik, Bülent Utku, Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Eser Yener, Müslüm Özışık, Turhan Günay and Nebil Özgentürk are all being sought for arrest, the daily added.
The daily also said the home of cartoonist Musa Kart, who is also the subject of a detention warrant, was currently being searched.
Authorities sent out a notice to apprehend Atalay because he is currently overseas.
Similarly an arrest warrant has been issued for former Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar, who left the country after he was convicted for publishing an article related to the alleged transfer of weapons by Turkey’s intelligence services to rebels in Syria.
The majority of those whose arrest were sought are members of the Cumhuriyet Foundation’s Executive Board.
The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office, meanwhile, issued a statement saying the investigations were launched on charges that the suspects were “committing crimes on behalf of the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) and the PKK even if the newspaper was not a member of them.”
Hurriyet
