The new Turkey Eren Erdem. Former Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy
25-Feb-2019
25 February 2019: Jailed Turkish politician barred from activities for launching hunger strike Turkish prison officials punished a jailed former member of parliament for starting a hunger strike to protest his pre-trial detention, a lawmaker of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said on Sunday. Eren Erdem, a journalist-turned-CHP MP, began his hunger strike on Jan. 29 after a Turkish court rejected his lawyer’s appeal for his release. The 32-year-old former lawmaker, pending trial, is charged with links to the Gülen movement, which Ankara designates a terrorist organisation and accuses of masterminding the July 2016 coup attempt. As punishment for being on hunger strike, Erdem has been barred from attending sports activities in prison for one month, Barış Yarkadaş, a CHP lawmaker said on Twitter. According to an indictment prepared by a Turkish prosecutor, Erdem faces 8.5 to 19 years behind bars for “aiding a terrorist organisation,” “revealing the identity of a secret witness,” and “violating the confidentiality of a criminal investigation," over publishing illegal wiretappings when he was the editor of an opposition newspaper. Source 7 January 2019: Eren Erdem rearrested after court overseeing “Karşı trial” orders his release The “Karşı newspaper trial,” where 11 defendants, including the former publisher of the shuttered daily, Turan Ababey, and the newspaper’s former employees, including its one-time editor-in-chief Eren Erdem, stand accused of various criminal charges on account of their work with the newspaper, resumed on 7 January in Istanbul. Erdem, who is also a former main opposition CHP MP, has been jailed pending trial since late June as part of this case. The case, overseen by the 23rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, is the outcome of an investigation into Karşı that was launched on the grounds that the newspaper had revealed leaked tapes as part of the graft probes targeting the government in 2013, publicly known as “17-25 December.” Erdem addressed the court during the hearing from the Silivri Prison via SEGBIS. The prosecution submitted their final opinion of the case during the hearing, requesting that Erdem be given up to 19 years in prison in total on the charges of “aiding an armed terrorist organization without being its member” and “violating the confidentiality [of an investigation] by way of revealing the identity of an anonymous witness.” They also requested the continuation of Erdem’s detention on remand. Requesting the acquittal of defendants Turan Ababey, Kutlu Esendemir and Mehmet Bozkurt of the charge “knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization,” the prosecution also asked that the files of defendants Değer Özergün, Ufuk Emin Köroğlu, Mehmet Aydoğmuş, Murat Kazancı and Emrah Direk, whose statements have yet to be taken because they are at large, be separated. Issuing an interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled to release Eren Erdem under judicial control measures and adjourned the trial until 1 March for the final defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion to be prepared. However, the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of Istanbul filed an objection to Erdem’s release pending trial the same day and the 24th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, the next court of first instance, issued an arrest warrant against Erdem. On 8 January, the 24th High Criminal Court held an interim hearing, where Erdem and his lawyers gave their statements in response to the arrest warrant. The court ruled with a majority opinion at the end of the hearing to send Erdem back to prison. 31 October 2018: Karşı newspaper trial gets under way after two files merged The “Karşı newspaper trial,” where 12 defendants, including the former publisher of the shuttered daily, Turan Ababey, and the newspaper’s former employees, including its one-time editor in chief Eren Erdem, stand accused of various criminal charges on account of their work at the newspaper, got under way on 31 October in Istanbul. At the end of the three-day hearing, the court ruled for the continuation of Eren Erdem’s detention. Erdem, a former CHP MP, was jailed pending trial in June on accusations stemming from his time as Karşı editor in chief as part of the case overseen by the 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. Erdem is charged with “knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization without being part of its hierarchical structure,” “revealing the identity of a secret witness” and “violating the confidentiality of an investigation.” The 23rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, which later accepted an indictment into the publisher and employees of Karşı, ruled to merge the case file with the file before the 35th High Criminal Court against Erdem. An appellate court later ruled that the 23rd High Criminal Court should have jurisdiction over the merged case. The indictment for the merged case file seeks up to 15 years of imprisonment for Alaaddin Akkaşoğlu, the owner of the newspaper’s website, karşıgazete.com, and a partner of the shuttered Akis Publications; karşıgazete.com chief editor Mehmet Aydoğmuş; Our Kala, who is purported to be the owner of the Twitter account “@Fedakarkisi”; Murat Kazancı, the news director for the hardcopy; and Emrah Direk, on the charge of “membership in an armed terrorist organization.” Also indicted is Kutlu Esendemir, the newspaper’s general coordinator, for “knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization without being its member.” He also faces 15 years in prison. The indictment also seeks up to 18 years in prison each for Karşı reporter Ufuk Emin Köroğlu and former editor in chief of the shuttered Millet daily, Değer Özergün, on charges of “membership in an armed terrorist organization” and “disclosing the identities of public officials who have taken part in the fight against terrorism.” The prosecution did not seek jail terms for Ababey, reporter Emre Erciş, and responsible managing editor Mehmet Bozkurt, who are charged with “knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization without being its member.” Instead the prosecution asked that they benefit from effective remorse. The 23rd High Criminal Court had also issued arrest warrants for five of the suspects: Alaaddin Akkaşoğlu, Değer Özergün, Mehmet Aydoğmuş, Murat Kazancı and Onur Kala, who are accused in the indictment of using ByLock, an encrypted messaging app purported to be exclusively used by the members of the Fethullah Gülen network, which the government accuses of being the perpetrators behind the 2016 coup attempt. The first hearing after the merging of the files took place over three days in Silivri. Eren Erdem, Turan Ababey, Emre Erciş, Mehmet Bozkurt and Kutlu Esendemir as well as defense lawyers were in attendance at the court. Erdem gave his defense statement on the first day of the hearing, responding to the accusations against him. Onur Kala, who was recently arrested, also addressed the court for his defense statement via the courtroom video-conferencing system SEGBİS from the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan. He denied the accusations. After the completion of the defense statements, the prosecutor requested continued detention for Erdem on grounds that “the collection of evidence was ongoing” and that there was “strong suspicion of crime.” The prosecution also asked that Onur Kala be jailed pending trial and that the case file against Alaaddin Akkaşoğlu be separated. Announcing its interim ruling on the last day of the hearing, 2 November, the court ruled to keep Erdem behind bars, and jailed Kala pending trial, as well as separating Akkaşoğlu’s file. The court also ruled to await the execution of arrest warrants against Ufuk Emin Köroğlu, Emrah Direk, Değer Özergün, Mehmet Aydoğmuş and Murat Kazancı and set 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 January 2019 as the dates for the next hearing. The investigation into Karşı was launched on grounds that the newspaper had revealed leaked tapes as part of the graft probes targeting the government in 2013, publicly known as “17-25 December.” Source 29 June 2018 Former CHP deputy Erdem arrested over Gülen links Former Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Eren Erdem was arrested by the İstanbul 35th High Criminal Court on Friday after he was detained by police the night before over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement. An İstanbul prosecutor had been conducting an investigation into Erdem’s work as a journalist while he was editor-in-chief of the Karşı daily. Erdem has been accused of “aiding a terrorist organization without membership in it,” “revealing the identity of a secret witness” and “violating the confidentiality of a criminal investigation” in an indictment approved by the court in May. The Karşı daily had published wiretaps of suspects in a police investigation into then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s close circle on accusations of bribery and corruption in 2013. Erdem’s passport was confiscated by police at an İstanbul airport in May following issuance of the indictment, which seeks from nine years, six months to 22 years in prison. CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in response to the arrest on Friday said, “One has to expect anything in a dictatorial regime.” “The court has ruled that Eren Erdem’s trial will be on Sept. 19,” Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters. 29 June: On June 29, former Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Eren Erdem was jailed pending trial by an Istanbul court as part of a case in which some of the accusations against Erdem are based on his time as the editor in chief of the now closed down Karşı newspaper. Erdem was arrested in the early hours of June 29 in Ankara and was later brought to Istanbul to appear before the 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, which had issued an arrest warrant for Erdem the day before on grounds of “flight risk.” Erdem told the court that he was being prosecuted “for reporting about [the corruption probes of] December 17-25.” He said the indictment claimed that the Karşı newspaper was published by a printing company owned by the Fethullah Gülen network, but that the Aydınlık newspaper too was printed at the same facility. Following his statement, the court ruled to jail Erdem pending trial. Erdem was sent to the Silivri Prison. The indictment accuses Erdem of “aiding an armed terrorist organization without being its member,” “revealing the identity of a secret witness” and “violating the confidentiality of an investigation.” Among the grounds for the accusations are that he was in possession of documents concerning the MİT trucks operation and that he visited Zaman newspaper’s head office as an act of solidarity on the day the newspaper was raided by police. The court had previously set September 19, 2018, as the date for the first hearing of the case against Erdem. * 29 June 2018 - CHP MP Eren Erdem Arrested İstanbul MP of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Eren Erdem, who was not nominated as MP candidate at the 27th term presidential election on June 24 and was taken into custody in Ankara today (June 29), was referred to the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan. Erdem, who was taken to İstanbul early this morning, appeared before judge at the İstanbul 35th Heavy Penal Court. At the hearing of Erdem, which was also watched by several MPs of the CHP, the attorney Onur Cıngıl made his defence regarding the case. Eren Erdem was arrested after the defence of his attorney. "I am being tried due to the lies of A Haber" In his statement of defence, Eren Erdem said, "Though I previously proved at the court that I did not make the statement, 'If Turkey and Iran go to war, I will side with Iran', they are still telling the same lie. Using this lie on purpose is a sign of malicious intention. I did not post such a tweet, which was also confirmed by the court. "I have been acquitted of the case of Sarin Gas, over which the media sparked such a big storm. But, they are acting as if I am still being tried at that case. If one penny was given to the Karşı newspaper by the FETÖ [Fethullahist Terrorist Organization, which is held responsible for the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016], condemn me to death. I am being tried due to the lies of the [pro-government] A Haber news channel." What happened? A lawsuit was filed against Eren Erdem at İstanbul 35th Heavy Penal Court due to his works at Karşı newspaper, of which Erdem was the chief editor. Erdem faces a prison sentence of 9.5 years to 22 years on charges of "knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization as a non-member", "revealing the identity of an anonymous witness" and "violating the confidentiality of the investigation." It was previously ruled that the first hearing of Erdem be held at 10 a.m. on September 19, 2018. After the indictment of the case was accepted by the court, Eren Erdem could not go to Germany on May 21 due to the international travel ban imposed on him. (EKN/HK/SD) Source

The new Turkey
Eren Erdem.
Former Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy

25-Feb-2019

25 February 2019:

Jailed Turkish politician barred from activities for launching hunger strike

Turkish prison officials punished a jailed former member of parliament for starting a hunger strike to protest his pre-trial detention, a lawmaker of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said on Sunday.

Eren Erdem, a journalist-turned-CHP MP, began his hunger strike on Jan. 29 after a Turkish court rejected his lawyer’s appeal for his release. The 32-year-old former lawmaker, pending trial, is charged with links to the Gülen movement, which Ankara designates a terrorist organisation and accuses of masterminding the July 2016 coup attempt.

As punishment for being on hunger strike, Erdem has been barred from attending sports activities in prison for one month, Barış Yarkadaş, a CHP lawmaker said on Twitter.

According to an indictment prepared by a Turkish prosecutor, Erdem faces 8.5 to 19 years behind bars for “aiding a terrorist organisation,” “revealing the identity of a secret witness,” and “violating the confidentiality of a criminal investigation," over publishing illegal wiretappings when he was the editor of an opposition newspaper. Source

7 January 2019:

Eren Erdem rearrested after court overseeing “Karşı trial” orders his release

The “Karşı newspaper trial,” where 11 defendants, including the former publisher of the shuttered daily, Turan Ababey, and the newspaper’s former employees, including its one-time editor-in-chief Eren Erdem, stand accused of various criminal charges on account of their work with the newspaper, resumed on 7 January in Istanbul.

Erdem, who is also a former main opposition CHP MP, has been jailed pending trial since late June as part of this case. The case, overseen by the 23rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, is the outcome of an investigation into Karşı that was launched on the grounds that the newspaper had revealed leaked tapes as part of the graft probes targeting the government in 2013, publicly known as “17-25 December.” Erdem addressed the court during the hearing from the Silivri Prison via SEGBIS.

The prosecution submitted their final opinion of the case during the hearing, requesting that Erdem be given up to 19 years in prison in total on the charges of “aiding an armed terrorist organization without being its member” and “violating the confidentiality [of an investigation] by way of revealing the identity of an anonymous witness.” They also requested the continuation of Erdem’s detention on remand.

Requesting the acquittal of defendants Turan Ababey, Kutlu Esendemir and Mehmet Bozkurt of the charge “knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization,” the prosecution also asked that the files of defendants Değer Özergün, Ufuk Emin Köroğlu, Mehmet Aydoğmuş, Murat Kazancı and Emrah Direk, whose statements have yet to be taken because they are at large, be separated.

Issuing an interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled to release Eren Erdem under judicial control measures and adjourned the trial until 1 March for the final defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion to be prepared.

However, the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of Istanbul filed an objection to Erdem’s release pending trial the same day and the 24th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, the next court of first instance, issued an arrest warrant against Erdem.

On 8 January, the 24th High Criminal Court held an interim hearing, where Erdem and his lawyers gave their statements in response to the arrest warrant. The court ruled with a majority opinion at the end of the hearing to send Erdem back to prison.

31 October 2018:

Karşı newspaper trial gets under way after two files merged

The “Karşı newspaper trial,” where 12 defendants, including the former publisher of the shuttered daily, Turan Ababey, and the newspaper’s former employees, including its one-time editor in chief Eren Erdem, stand accused of various criminal charges on account of their work at the newspaper, got under way on 31 October in Istanbul. At the end of the three-day hearing, the court ruled for the continuation of Eren Erdem’s detention.

Erdem, a former CHP MP, was jailed pending trial in June on accusations stemming from his time as Karşı editor in chief as part of the case overseen by the 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. Erdem is charged with “knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization without being part of its hierarchical structure,” “revealing the identity of a secret witness” and “violating the confidentiality of an investigation.”

The 23rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, which later accepted an indictment into the publisher and employees of Karşı, ruled to merge the case file with the file before the 35th High Criminal Court against Erdem. An appellate court later ruled that the 23rd High Criminal Court should have jurisdiction over the merged case.

The indictment for the merged case file seeks up to 15 years of imprisonment for Alaaddin Akkaşoğlu, the owner of the newspaper’s website, karşıgazete.com, and a partner of the shuttered Akis Publications; karşıgazete.com chief editor Mehmet Aydoğmuş; Our Kala, who is purported to be the owner of the Twitter account “@Fedakarkisi”; Murat Kazancı, the news director for the hardcopy; and Emrah Direk, on the charge of “membership in an armed terrorist organization.” Also indicted is Kutlu Esendemir, the newspaper’s general coordinator, for “knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization without being its member.” He also faces 15 years in prison.

The indictment also seeks up to 18 years in prison each for Karşı reporter Ufuk Emin Köroğlu and former editor in chief of the shuttered Millet daily, Değer Özergün, on charges of “membership in an armed terrorist organization” and “disclosing the identities of public officials who have taken part in the fight against terrorism.”

The prosecution did not seek jail terms for Ababey, reporter Emre Erciş, and responsible managing editor Mehmet Bozkurt, who are charged with “knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization without being its member.” Instead the prosecution asked that they benefit from effective remorse.

The 23rd High Criminal Court had also issued arrest warrants for five of the suspects: Alaaddin Akkaşoğlu, Değer Özergün, Mehmet Aydoğmuş, Murat Kazancı and Onur Kala, who are accused in the indictment of using ByLock, an encrypted messaging app purported to be exclusively used by the members of the Fethullah Gülen network, which the government accuses of being the perpetrators behind the 2016 coup attempt.

The first hearing after the merging of the files took place over three days in Silivri. Eren Erdem, Turan Ababey, Emre Erciş, Mehmet Bozkurt and Kutlu Esendemir as well as defense lawyers were in attendance at the court.

Erdem gave his defense statement on the first day of the hearing, responding to the accusations against him.

Onur Kala, who was recently arrested, also addressed the court for his defense statement via the courtroom video-conferencing system SEGBİS from the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan. He denied the accusations.

After the completion of the defense statements, the prosecutor requested continued detention for Erdem on grounds that “the collection of evidence was ongoing” and that there was “strong suspicion of crime.” The prosecution also asked that Onur Kala be jailed pending trial and that the case file against Alaaddin Akkaşoğlu be separated.

Announcing its interim ruling on the last day of the hearing, 2 November, the court ruled to keep Erdem behind bars, and jailed Kala pending trial, as well as separating Akkaşoğlu’s file. The court also ruled to await the execution of arrest warrants against Ufuk Emin Köroğlu, Emrah Direk, Değer Özergün, Mehmet Aydoğmuş and Murat Kazancı and set 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 January 2019 as the dates for the next hearing.

The investigation into Karşı was launched on grounds that the newspaper had revealed leaked tapes as part of the graft probes targeting the government in 2013, publicly known as “17-25 December.” Source

29 June 2018

Former CHP deputy Erdem arrested over Gülen links

Former Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Eren Erdem was arrested by the İstanbul 35th High Criminal Court on Friday after he was detained by police the night before over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement.

An İstanbul prosecutor had been conducting an investigation into Erdem’s work as a journalist while he was editor-in-chief of the Karşı daily.

Erdem has been accused of “aiding a terrorist organization without membership in it,” “revealing the identity of a secret witness” and “violating the confidentiality of a criminal investigation” in an indictment approved by the court in May.

The Karşı daily had published wiretaps of suspects in a police investigation into then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s close circle on accusations of bribery and corruption in 2013. Erdem’s passport was confiscated by police at an İstanbul airport in May following issuance of the indictment, which seeks from nine years, six months to 22 years in prison.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in response to the arrest on Friday said, “One has to expect anything in a dictatorial regime.” “The court has ruled that Eren Erdem’s trial will be on Sept. 19,” Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters.

29 June:

On June 29, former Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Eren Erdem was jailed pending trial by an Istanbul court as part of a case in which some of the accusations against Erdem are based on his time as the editor in chief of the now closed down Karşı newspaper. Erdem was arrested in the early hours of June 29 in Ankara and was later brought to Istanbul to appear before the 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, which had issued an arrest warrant for Erdem the day before on grounds of “flight risk.”

Erdem told the court that he was being prosecuted “for reporting about [the corruption probes of] December 17-25.” He said the indictment claimed that the Karşı newspaper was published by a printing company owned by the Fethullah Gülen network, but that the Aydınlık newspaper too was printed at the same facility. Following his statement, the court ruled to jail Erdem pending trial. Erdem was sent to the Silivri Prison. The indictment accuses Erdem of “aiding an armed terrorist organization without being its member,” “revealing the identity of a secret witness” and “violating the confidentiality of an investigation.”

Among the grounds for the accusations are that he was in possession of documents concerning the MİT trucks operation and that he visited Zaman newspaper’s head office as an act of solidarity on the day the newspaper was raided by police. The court had previously set September 19, 2018, as the date for the first hearing of the case against Erdem. *

29 June 2018 - CHP MP Eren Erdem Arrested

İstanbul MP of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Eren Erdem, who was not nominated as MP candidate at the 27th term presidential election on June 24 and was taken into custody in Ankara today (June 29), was referred to the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan.

Erdem, who was taken to İstanbul early this morning, appeared before judge at the İstanbul 35th Heavy Penal Court. At the hearing of Erdem, which was also watched by several MPs of the CHP, the attorney Onur Cıngıl made his defence regarding the case.

Eren Erdem was arrested after the defence of his attorney.

"I am being tried due to the lies of A Haber"

In his statement of defence, Eren Erdem said,

"Though I previously proved at the court that I did not make the statement, 'If Turkey and Iran go to war, I will side with Iran', they are still telling the same lie. Using this lie on purpose is a sign of malicious intention. I did not post such a tweet, which was also confirmed by the court.

"I have been acquitted of the case of Sarin Gas, over which the media sparked such a big storm. But, they are acting as if I am still being tried at that case. If one penny was given to the Karşı newspaper by the FETÖ [Fethullahist Terrorist Organization, which is held responsible for the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016], condemn me to death. I am being tried due to the lies of the [pro-government] A Haber news channel."

What happened?

A lawsuit was filed against Eren Erdem at İstanbul 35th Heavy Penal Court due to his works at Karşı newspaper, of which Erdem was the chief editor.

Erdem faces a prison sentence of 9.5 years to 22 years on charges of "knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization as a non-member", "revealing the identity of an anonymous witness" and "violating the confidentiality of the investigation."

It was previously ruled that the first hearing of Erdem be held at 10 a.m. on September 19, 2018.

After the indictment of the case was accepted by the court, Eren Erdem could not go to Germany on May 21 due to the international travel ban imposed on him. (EKN/HK/SD) Source

The new Turkey Eren Erdem. Former Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy