Turkey arrests 4 more journalists reporting Turkish intel agent’s death in Libya

Courts in Turkey have ruled to arrest OdaTV’s editor-in-chief Barış Pehlivan, daily Yeni Çağ columnist Murat Ağırel, journalists Aydın Keser and Ferhat Çelik from Yeni Yaşam newspaper for ‘exposing the name of a Turkish intelligence agent’ who were killed in Libya last month.
Monday, 09 March 2020 14:31

OdaTV’s editor-in-chief Barış Pehlivan, daily Yeni Çağ columnist Murat Ağırel, journalists Aydın Keser and Ferhat Çelik from Yeni Yaşam newspaper have been arrested over ‘‘reporting the name and the funeral ceremony of a member of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT)’’ on Sunday. 

Murat Ağırel, Aydın Keser and Ferhat Çelik had been previously released on probation over the news report about the funeral of a MİT official killed in Libya.

Last week, Turkish court ruled to arrest Barış Terkoğlu, the editor-in-chief of the OdaTV news site, and Hülya Kılınç, the reporter who wrote the intelligence officer’s story on OdaTV, over several intelligence-related offences, including obtaining, disclosing and revealing documents and information about the operations of Turkey’s MİT in Libya following a report that included photographs of a member of the Turkish intelligence agency, who was among the first Turkish soldiers killed in Libya.

However, the MİT agent’s name was previously mentioned in Turkish parliament by Ümit Özdağ, a lawmaker from the opposition party İYİP. Following a press conference of the lawmaker last week, many other media outlets already reported the story of the intelligence officer who lost his life in Libya.

Turkey had sent Syrian militants and Turkish military/intelligence officers to support Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) recognized by the United Nations (UN) fighting against General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) during Ankara’s military operations in the country.  

Meanwhile, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) has blocked to access to OdaTV news website from Turkey as of March 5.

‘‘I may apparently have been arrested due to the news I reported. However, both my political view and my journalistic experience indicate that this case is not a simple debate on the news we reported,’’ Barış Terkoğlu told Özge Demir, a lawyer visiting him in Silivri Prison, Istanbul.

Stating that his news reported about the killed MİT agent in Libya is just a pretext to detain the journalists telling the truth, Terkoğlu said, ‘‘They [the Turkish government] want us to be silenced. Yet, we will show that they will never achieve this.’’ 

‘‘With these arrests, Turkey now has the opportunity to understand much better the formation of gang activities within the current political power. I think that my imprisonment and injustice and unlawfulness I and my colleagues have been subjected are not as important as attempting against the future of our country,’’ Terkoğlu noted, and concluded: ‘‘This moblike formations within the state is attempting to eliminate all progressive achievements of the Republic in Turkey, particularly in the fields of law.’’

Barış Pehlivan, who was visited by lawyer Özge Demir in Silivri Prison, informed that he was battered and treated badly by a guardian in the entrance of the prison. 

Stating that he is physically and mentally quite strong for now, Pehlivan said that he will continue reporting the truth as before. 

‘‘We are here, in prison, because we are journalists. We pay the price for the news we have reported so far. I want soL news and our readers to raise our voice to all people. Our morale is high, we expect solidarity,’’ Barış Pehlivan also sent a message from the prison for the readers of soL news portal.

Barış Terkoğlu and Barış Pehlivan, the editors-in-chief of OdaTV, were previously arrested in 2011 as part of the Ergenekon investigations, so-called legal cases initiated by Gülenist movement in collaboration with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) within Turkey’s judiciary. 

Yet, the clique formed by the followers of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, the leader of the Gülen network [with its new name Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ)], within the state apparatus attempted a failed coup against the AKP government in July 15, 2016, and the Ergenekon cases were abated in November 2019. 

91 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey, making the country one of the biggest jailers of journalists in the world, according to the data of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS). 

AKP government have closed down approximately 70 newspapers, 20 magazines, 34 radio stations and 33 television channels due to their criticism to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government since the failed coup in 2016.