Reporters protest directive denying access to police departments

The National Police Department on Sunday issued a new directive forbidding journalists from entering police departments across the country. The directive came amid a reshuffle in the police organization that saw more than 110 police chiefs removed from their posts following the start of a major government corruption investigation initiated by the police in which the sons of two ministers, Halkbank General Manager Süleyman Aslan and Iranian-Azerbaijani businessman Reza Zarrab have been arrested so far.

As a result of the directive, reporters from TV stations, newspapers and news agencies were asked to turn in their cards that gave them access to the press room in the İstanbul Police Department. About 30 journalists gathered in front of the İstanbul Police Department on Monday morning and wanted to meet with new İstanbul Police Chief Selami Altınok, who recently took up the post after former İstanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın was dismissed, seemingly for his role in pursuing the corruption probe. However, Altınok refused to meet with the journalists. The reporters demonstrated against the ban by collectively raising their entrance cards while photo journalists raised their cameras and then put them on the floor in a show of protest.

The journalists then released a press statement, saying that the ban violates the people's right to be informed, adding that they have not been given any satisfactory reason for this action. The journalists said they attribute the ban to the ongoing corruption investigation being conducted by the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Unit as well as several other specialized police units.

Press Council condemns ban

The Press Council also released a written statement on Monday to condemn the directive prohibiting the journalists from entering police departments. It stated that people's freedom of information and press freedom are essential rights in real democracies and that they must not be restricted. It stated: “Attempts to censor the press in periods when democratic rights are suspended have not been successful and they will not be in the future. The decision to ban journalists from entering police departments cannot prevent journalists from accessing facts, and real journalists will continue to chase facts despite all restrictions and obstacles.”

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has brought the recent ban on journalists' access to Parliament's agenda. In a parliamentary question on Monday, CHP Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu asked the prime minister for the reasons behind this ban, whether this directive is an attempt to censor the media, how this decision will affect the right of journalists and the public to know the facts, whether the government is giving the order to journalists that they cannot get information, cannot inform the public about the facts, or if the government is trying to tell journalists that they can only use the facts the government provides to them.

Tanrıkulu further asked: “Following the detention of ministers' sons as part of the graft probe, the government removed police chiefs and prosecutors from their posts. Is the government trying to silence the voice of anti-government circles as a continuation of the dismissal of police chiefs? What does the government aim to do by censoring the media about an investigation related to it and by adopting this recent decision which clearly and seriously violates the people's right to be informed and freedom of the press? What kind of further restrictions do you plan to bring to obstruct the recent bribery and corruption probe, as a government which always brings restrictions though it repeatedly states it has been fighting for freedoms?”

Tanrıkulu also pointed to the recent block placed on the website of Taraf daily columnist Mehmet Baransu by the Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), apparently for publishing photos and tapes about the recent corruption investigation, in his parliamentary question. He asked Erdoğan on what basis or order Baransu's website, yenidonem.com, was blocked, and continued: “How many websites have been blocked in same manner so far across Turkey? What were the reasons? Are those websites blocked on the order of a prosecutor's office or an order from the Ministry of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications?”

Access to Baransu's website was blocked to users in Turkey by TİB as of Wednesday evening. Speaking with Today's Zaman on Thursday, Baransu defines the blocking of his website as an “unlawful action.” The website is still blocked.