The arrest of three prominent Turkish activists over terror-related charges has sparked protests in Istanbul.
On Tuesday, some 200 people gathered outside the offices of Özgür Gündem pro-Kurdish newspaper, chanting “The free press cannot be silenced," as riot police stood on alert.
On Monday, Turkey arrested Reporters Without Borders (RSF) representative Erol Önderoğlu, author Ahmet Nesin, and the president of Turkey's Human Rights Foundation, Şebnem Korur Fincancı.
The three took the symbolic control of pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem, much to the anger of Turkish authorities who had the daily in their crosshairs for years.
"The court, directed by the palace and acting on its orders, once again has signed its name to a shameful decision and arrested our three friends," said İnan Kızılkaya, one of the daily’s editors, referring to the office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to Önderoğlu, the prosecutor in the case demanded that he and the two other campaigners be charged for spreading terrorist propaganda.
"The jailing of Önderoğlu and (Fincancı), two of Turkey's most respected rights defenders, is a chilling sign human rights groups are the next target," said Hugh Williamson, the Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
For the past two years, Turkey has been tightening its grip on media, especially those sympathizing with the country’s Kurdish militants, known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The military has launched a massive crackdown against the PKK in areas close to borders with Iraq and Syria in the south. Offshoots of the PKK have responded by carrying out deadly attacks in the capital Ankara and in Istanbul.
The arrests came despite the increasing pressure by the European Union on Turkey to narrow its definition of terrorism. The EU says the law, which has targeted scores of academics, journalists and rights activists, should change if Ankara wants free-visa travels to EU for Turks.
