Turkish journalists on trial for reporting that Turkey sells arms to islamic extremists in Syria

[DetlefK]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/25/turkish-journalists-can-dundar-erdem-gul-secret-trial-revealing-arms-deliveries-syria

An Istanbul court has ruled that well-known Turkish journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül will stand trial behind closed doors on charges of espionage and divulging state secrets.

In a case that has drawn international attention and harsh criticism, prosecutors are seeking multiple life sentences for Dündar, editor-in-chief of the leading opposition daily Cumhuriyet and Gül, the newspaper’s Ankara bureau chief, for publishing a story that said Turkey was delivering arms to Islamist rebels in Syria.

The paper’s revelations, published in May 2015, infuriated the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said that Dündar would “pay a heavy price” and personally filed a criminal complaint against the journalists for what he has portrayed as part of an attempt to undermine Turkey’s global standing.

...

The story was based on a 2014 video purporting to show Turkey’s state intelligence agency helping to transport weapons to Syria. Erdoğan has acknowledged that the lorries, which were stopped by Turkish paramilitary forces and police officers en route to the Syrian border, belonged to the intelligence agency but said they were carrying aid to Turkmen rebels in Syria. Turkmen fighters are battling both the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and Isis.


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And the trial is secret because human rights groups, journalists and the british and german ambassadors dared to be in the audience when the trial was opened.




2014. The year when Erdogan publicly refused to stop ISIS-recruiters from operating in Turkey.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027719965