Greek journalist expelled from Turkey

Greek journalist Evangelos Areteos, a veteran journalist who has written about Turkey for more than 20 years and who was accredited to work in the country, said in a post on Facebook that he was stopped by security officials at Istanbul’s airport Sabiha Gokcen and deported back to Brussels after seven hours of interrogation.

“After twenty-three years, during which I lived, for eight years, and then traveled and worked in Turkey, the Turkish authorities decided to deport me and forbid me to return for reasons of ‘public order’” said Areteos, who is also a non-resident research fellow at the Diplomatic Academy of the University of Nicosia, in Cyprus.

The journalist said that the main reason for the deportation could be his travels in south-east Turkey, a trip to northern Syria in 2015 and his  travels in the rest of Turkey, from what he understood from the interrogation at the airport. 

He said that his contacts with people that the Turkish state considers suspicious and the photos on his mobile phone, which are related to the activities of the Kurds in northern Syria could also be the reason behind the decision.

In a deeply sentimental message, Areteos said he could not understand the decision that made him feel like an exile. He said he would “cover Turkey and work with the same convictions even from a distance, in the hope that at some point the Turkish authorities will reverse their decision”