Turkey raids on Kurdish media, detains 10 journalists

Turkish police detained 10 journalists from Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) and Kurdish outlet JinNews in a series of dawn raids carried out simultaneously in six provinces on Tuesday.

Police acting within the scope of the investigation launched by capital Ankara’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, also have raided MA’s Ankara bureau, the agency reported. 

Security forces confiscated several books, magazines, computers and cameras during the raids, it said.

The reason for the detentions was not yet disclosed.

Mezopotamya and JinNews frequently find themselves under investigation related to terrorism charges over the Kurdish issue. Turkish authorities accuse them of publishing news benefiting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is a “crime” punishable by several years in prison under Turkey’s anti-terror laws. 

MA’s Editor-in-Chief Diren Yurtsever was detained in a home raid in Istanbul, the agency said. Reporters Zemo Aggoz and Berivan Altan were detained in Ankara, Selma Guzelyuz in Diyarbakir, Hakan Yalcin in Van and Emrullah Acar and Ceylan Sahinli in Urfa, MA added.

JinNews reporters Hasibe Eren and Derya Ren were detained in Diyarbakir and Oznur Deger in Mardin, it said.