It is not possible to “determine” the number of journalists in Turkish prisons, said Turkey’s justice minister in response to a parliamentary question on Saturday.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ responded to a parliamentary question submitted by Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Adana deputy Meral Danış Beştaş in May. In his written response the minister said the exact number of journalists under arrest cannot be “determined” because the some of them call themselves journalists “even though they do not have a press card.”
“The records [current numbers] are based on prisoners’ statements. And therefore evaluating the situation based these statements would be wrong and incomplete because there can be people who claim to be journalists even though they have different professions, or journalists who may have declared different professions,” Bozdağ said.
Bozdağ also said the Justice Ministry gives the number of press card holders under arrest as three.
PEN International, a worldwide association of writers, has recently released the names of 145 journalists who were jailed by the Turkish government after a failed coup attempt on July 15.
According to the association, they managed to gather the list by cross-referencing the various sources available to them at present and will update it as more news emerges. The list only includes journalists and writers, not businessmen or those with financial interests in the media.
One hundred forty-nine journalists are behind bars, of whom four are currently detained without having been charged. Out of the remaining 145 journalists, 114 have been charged since the coup attempt; 31 were charged before the attempt; and 76 journalists were briefly arrested/detained after the coup attempt and have been released.
4 journalists currently detained without charges
Emre Koçali, Haberdar, in custody
Özcan Keser, TRT İstanbul, in custody
Mecrum Tokal, Azadiya Welat, in custody
İsmail Çoban, Azadiya Welat, in custody
145 journalists in custody and facing trial, 114 charged following the coup attempt
Abdullah Kılıç, Meydan Gazetesi columnist, under arrest
Abdullah Özyurt, Zaman reporter, under arrest
Ahmet Turan Alkan, Former Zaman columnist, under arrest
Ahmet Altan, Former editor-in-chief of Taraf daily, under arrest
Ahmet Yavaş, TRT (Erzurum), under arrest
Ahmet Memiş, Haberdar, under Arrest
Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Cihan Medya president, under arrest
Akın Atalay, chair of Cumhuriyet Foundation, under arrest
Alaattin Güner, former Cihan Medya director, under arrest
Ali Akkuş, former Zaman General Publications editor, under arrest
Ali Aşikar, Azadiya Welat reporter, under arrest
Ali Bulaç, former Zaman columnist, under arrest
Ali Ünal, Zaman columnist, under arrest
Arap Turan, Azadiya Welat, under arrest
Aslı Erdoğan, author, Özgür Gündem columnist, under arrest
Atilla Taş, Meydan columnist, under arrest
Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak, Yarına Bakış columnist, under arrest
Ayhan Karahan, Bodrumca columnist, under arrest
Aytekin Gezici, under arrest
Ayşenur Parıldak, former Zaman correspondent, under arrest
Aziz İstegün, former Zaman Diyarbakır representative, under arrest
Bayram Kaya, Zaman, Yeni Hayat reporter, under arrest
Bayram Parlak,Radyo Cihan (Diyarbakır), under arrest
Bertan Golali, TRT İstanbul, under arrest
Bünyamin Köseli, former Aksiyon reporter, under arrest
Bülent Utku, Cumhuriyet daily board member, under arrest
Bilal Gündem, DİHA reporter, under arrest
Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, author, under arrest
Cemil Uğur, Evrensel reporter, under arrest
Cihan Acar, former Bugün reporter, under arrest
Cihat Ünal, Antalya Zaman reporter, under arrest
Cuma Kaya, Zaman writer, under arrest
Cuma Ulus, former publications coordinator for Millet daily, under arrest
Cumali Önal, former Zaman editor in charge of Arabic publications, under arrest
Eda Şanlı, owner and columnist of Bizim Antalya, under arrest
Emre Soncan, former Zaman defense reporter, under arrest
Ercan Gün, Fox TV news editor, under arrest
Erdem Mühirci, DİHA reporter, under arrest
Erdal Şen, Meydan editor, under arrest
Erkan Büyük, Haberdar, under arrest
Faruk Akkan, Cihan Ajansı, under arrest
Fevzi Yazıcı, Zaman visual director (formerly), under arrest
Ferit Toprak, Azadiya Welat, under arrest
Gültekin Avcı, Bugün, under arrest
Güray Öz, Cumhuriyet daily columnist, board member, under arrest
Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Türk Solu columnist, under arrest
Habip Güler, former Zaman reporter, under arrest
Hakan Taşdelen, under arrest
Hakan Kara, Cumhuriyet daily board member, under arrest
Halil İbrahim Mert, TRT (Erzurum), under arrest
Hanım Büşra Erdal, former Zaman reporter and columnist, under arrest
Haşim Söylemez, former Aksiyon magazine columnist, under arrest
Hüseyin Aydın, Cihan reporter, under arrest
Hülya Karakaya, Özgür Halk managing editor, under arrest
İbrahim Balta, former Zaman business editor, under arrest
İbrahim Karayeğen, former Zaman newsroom editor, under arrest
İdris Sayılgan, DİHA reporter, under arrest
İlker İlkan, Azadiya Welat, under arrest
Inan Kızılkaya, Özgür Gündem managing editor, under arrest
İsa Siyi, Haberdar, under arrest
Kadri Gürsel, Cumhuriyet daily columnist, advisor, under arrest
Kenan Baş, Antalya Zaman reporter, under arrest
Lokman Erdoğan, Çorum Manşet (local newspaper), under arrest
Mehmet Altan, author, economist, under arrest
Mehmet Anıl, ETHA reporter, under arrest
Mehmet Dener, Şanlıurfa.com, executive director
Mehmet Kuru, former Zaman Eskişehir reporter, under arrest
Mehmet Özdemir, Zaman writer, under arrest
Metin Bekiroğlu, DİHA, under arrest
Mizgin Çay, Radyo Karacadağ, under arrest
Muhammet Taşçılar, şanlıurfa.com editor, under arrest
Murat Avcıoğlu, author, under arrest
Murat Aksoy, Yarına Bakış columnist, under arrest
Murat Öztürk, Çorum Manşet, under arrest
Murat Sabuncu, Cumhuriyet daily editor-in-chief, under arrest
Musa Kart, Cumhuriyet daily cartoonist, board member, under arrest
Mustafa Erkan Acar, Cihan news agency, under arrest
Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Cumhuriyet daily board member, under arrest
Mustafa Ünal, Zaman daily columnist, under arrest
Mutlu Çölgeçen, Millet newsroom coordinator, under arrest
Mümtaz’er Türköne, former Zaman columnist, under arrest
Nuri Durna, TRT (Ezurum), under arrest
Nurullah Kaya, former Zaman Gaziantep representative, under arrest
Nizamettin Yılmaz, Azadiya Welat, under arrest
Olgun Matur, local Antalya journalist, under arrest
Osman Yakut, former Zaman Antalya reporter, under arrest
Özkan Mayda, Antalya Zaman reporter, under arrest
Önder Çelik, Cumhuriyet daily board member, under arrest
Sabahattin Koyuncu, DİHA, under arrest
Sadık Demir, Radyo Karacadağ, under arrest
Salih Erbekler, Radyo Karacadağ, under arrest
Seyid Kılıç, former TRT reporter, under arrest
Şahin Alpay, former Zaman columnist, under arrest
Şirin Çoban, Azadiya Welat, under arrest
Şeref Yılmaz, Irmak TV, under arrest
Togay Okay, Ozgur Gelecek reporter, under arrest
Tuncer Çetinkaya, Zaman Antalya, under arrest
Turhan Günay, Cumhuriyet daily literature supplement editor-in-chief, under arrest
Rabia Özkaya, Özgür Halk, under arrest
Rasul Cengiz, former Zaman Denizli reporter, under arrest
Ramazan Alkan, Yeni Akit reporter, under arrest
Rıfat Söylemez, Adana Günaydın (local newspaper), under arrest
Ufuk Şanlı, former Vatan columnist, under arrest
Vedat Demir, former Yarına Bakış columnist, under arrest
Vahit Yazgan, former Zaman İzmir representative, under arrest
Yakup Çetin, former Zaman reporter, under arrest
Yalçın Güler, TRT (Erzurum), under arrest
Yener Dönmez, Habervaktim news website, under arrest
Yetkin Yıldız, aktif haber news website, under arrest
Zana Bilir Kaya, Özgür Gündem editor-in-chief, under arrest
Zafer Özsoy, under arrest
Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Azadiya Welat, under arrest
Zehra Doğan, JİNHA, under arrest
(Turkey Purge)
