A detention warrant has been issued for journalist Ergun Babahan due to a tweet he posted on Thursday following a terrorist attack earlier that day on a convoy carrying Turkey’s main opposition leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
“All those [who] lend support to fascism will pay for it. This includes Kılıçdaroğlu. This is just the beginning!” wrote Babahan.
Istanbul prosecutor Umut Tepe launched an investigation into Babahan on charges of “praising crime and criminals” and issued a detention warrant for him.
Kılıçdaroğlu was the target of an attack by terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in the Black Sea province of Artvin on Thursday afternoon. While Kılıçdaroğlu survived the attack, one soldier was killed and two others were wounded by gunfire.
When his tweet attracted criticism, Babahan posted another tweet claiming that he had been misunderstood.
“This is not praising the attack. It only talks about the consequences. … The fascistic understanding unites wide segments of society against an enemy. Then it comes for those who support it,” he added.
Dozens of journalists are behind bars in Turkey, where the situation of the freedom of the press is claimed to have hit rock bottom over the past several years due to the government’s apparent lack of tolerance for any criticism.
Two Kurdish reporters arrested
According to the DİHA news agency, one of its reporters, Erdem Mühirci, and Azediya Welat reporter Ali Aşikar were arrested on charges of terrorism on Friday in Turkey’s Van province.
