The new Turkey Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş. Columnist/op-ed contributor for Zaman newspaper
24-Jan-2019 16:25
5 July 2018: Trial of Zaman journalists resumes at İstanbul court The trial of journalists from the now-closed Zaman daily resumed at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court on Thursday where the defendants are making their final defense statements before the court renders its verdicts. The court is expected to give its final verdicts for the journalists during a hearing on Friday. Former Zaman writers and editors Mümtaz’er Türköne, Ali Bulaç, Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Ahmet Turan Alkan, Alaattin Güner, Cuma Kaya, Faruk Akkan, Hakan Taşdelen, Hüseyin Belli, Hüseyin Turan, İbrahim Karayeğen, İsmail Küçük, Murat Avcıoğlu, Mustafa Ünal, Onur Kutlu, Sedat Yetişkin, Şeref Yılmaz, Yüksel Durgut and Zafer Özsoy are among the defendants standing trial. The journalists face charges of violating the constitution, membership in a terrorist organization, disseminating the propaganda of a terrorist organization and aiding a terrorist organization. The Zaman daily, which was Turkey’s best-selling newspaper, was closed down along with dozens of other media outlets due to their links to the Gülen movement, which is accused by Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government of masterminding a coup attempt in July 2016. Former Zaman employees Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç, Mehmet Özdemir, Ahmet İrem, Ali Hüseyinçelebi, Süleyman Sargın, Osman Nuri Arslan, Osman Nuri Öztürk, Lalezer Sarıibrahimoğlu, Nuriye Ural, Orhan Kemal Cengiz and Professor İhsan Duran Dağı, who used to work as a columnist for Zaman, are also named as defendants in the indictment, but they had previously been released on their own recognizance. According to the Twitter posts of @P24DavaTakip, which follows the trials of journalists in Turkey, former Zaman columnist Alpay delivered his defense statement during Thursday’s hearing in which he denied the accusations directed against him. Alpay said he is standing trial due to the articles he wrote in the Zaman daily, some of which included criticism of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AKP government. The journalist said it is out of the question for him to write articles based on orders from anyone or any group including the Gülen movement. He said there is no evidence in the indictment proving that he wrote articles to serve the goals of the Gülen movement. “The only reason I approached the Gülen movement with respect is because I looked at it from a sociological perspective, it was never because of a membership or belonging to this group,” said Alpay. The journalist also said by writing in the Zaman daily, he thought he could make a contribution to the conservative circles’ understanding of democratic values and the virtues of a state of law in Turkey. During the hearing, lawyer Aynur Tuncel Yazgan, who represents both Alpay and Ural, presented a defense statement in which she denied the accusations against her clients. The lawyer said neither Alpay nor Ural is a follower of the Gülen movement and that they were only involved in journalistic activities. “The limits of the law should not be forced. When the limits of the law are forced, we get confused about how to present a defense,” said the lawyer. Professor Dağı also delivered a defense statement during Thursday’s hearing and said he still does not know why he is standing trial and facing charges of disseminating the propaganda of a terror organization. He said he stopped writing for Zaman in 2014 and had appeared on none of the Gülen-linked TV stations since 2012. “In no part of my life have I had an attitude praising or encouraging violence. As for freedom of expression and the right to criticism, they are guaranteed by the law in democratic states,” Dağı said, while requesting his acquittal of all charges. The trial will continue on Friday. 3 May 2018: Feza Media Group trial ends, defendants sentenced An Istanbul court on April 30 convicted 10 people affiliated with the shuttered Feza Media Group, best known as the publisher of the daily Zaman, on terrorism-related charges, CNNTurk and the media news website P24 reported. All of the defendants were acquitted on charges of "attempting to eliminate" the constitutional order, the reports stated. According to the reports, the sentences are as follows: - Hakan Taşdelen, the former manager for Feza's Fia production company, Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, the former manager for Feza's Cihan media company, and Faruk Akkan, Cihan's former general director, were each sentenced to 9 years in prison for "being a member of a [terrorist] organization." All three will remain in prison and their time served will count toward their sentences. 23 December 2016: Court confiscates assets of 54 journalists Istanbul's 11th Court of Penal Peace court confiscated the assets of 54 journalists, media workers, and writers, saying there was a "strong suspicion" that they were followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom the Turkish government accuses of maintaining a terrorist organization and "parallel state structure" (FETÖ/PDY, by its Turkish acronym), the news website Bianet reported today. None of the 54 have been convicted of terrorism, most have not been charged with a crime, but most have been previously reported to be under investigation in the scope of a sweeping purge of suspected Gülenists that intensified after a July 15, 2016, failed military coup that the government blamed on the Hizmet movement, as its sympathizers call it. Of the 54, only Nuriye Akman and Lale Kemal were arrested, though subsequently released pending the conclusion of their trial. The other journalists, writers, and media workers whose assets the court froze are as follows: Zafer Özsoy, Yüksel Durgut, Veysel Ayhan, Şeref Yılmaz, Şenol Kahraman, Süleyman Sargın, Şahin Alpay, Sevgi Akarçeşme, Sedat Yetişkin, Ömer Karakaş, Osman Nuri Öztürk, Oktay Vızvız, Nuriye Ural, Nevzat Güner, Mümtazer Türköne, Mustafa Ünal, Murat Avcıoğlu, Mehmet Akif Afşar, Mehmet Kamış, Lale Kemal, Kemal Soydemir, Hüseyin Döğme, Hilmi Yavuz, Hamit Çiçek, Hakan Taşdelen, Fevzi Yazıcı, Faruk Akkan, Faruk Kardıç, Erkam Tufan Aytav, Melih Kılıç, Ekrem Dumanlı, Cuma Kaya, Cevdet Türkyolu, Bülent Korucu, Bülent Keneş, Ali Bulaç, Ali Ünal, Ali Akbulut, Alaattin Güner, Ahmet Turan Alkan, Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Zeki Önal, Osman Nuri Arslan, Metin Tamer Gökçeoğlu, Mehmet Özdemir, İhsan Duran Dağı, Hamit Bilici, Behçet Akyar, Adil Gülçek, Abdullah Katırcıoğlu, Abdullah Aymaz, Hüseyin Turan, İbrahim Karayeğen, and Mehmet Özdemir.

The new Turkey
Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş.
Columnist/op-ed contributor for Zaman newspaper

24-Jan-2019 16:25

5 July 2018:

Trial of Zaman journalists resumes at İstanbul court

The trial of journalists from the now-closed Zaman daily resumed at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court on Thursday where the defendants are making their final defense statements before the court renders its verdicts.
The court is expected to give its final verdicts for the journalists during a hearing on Friday.

Former Zaman writers and editors Mümtaz’er Türköne, Ali Bulaç, Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Ahmet Turan Alkan, Alaattin Güner, Cuma Kaya, Faruk Akkan, Hakan Taşdelen, Hüseyin Belli, Hüseyin Turan, İbrahim Karayeğen, İsmail Küçük, Murat Avcıoğlu, Mustafa Ünal, Onur Kutlu, Sedat Yetişkin, Şeref Yılmaz, Yüksel Durgut and Zafer Özsoy are among the defendants standing trial.

The journalists face charges of violating the constitution, membership in a terrorist organization, disseminating the propaganda of a terrorist organization and aiding a terrorist organization.

The Zaman daily, which was Turkey’s best-selling newspaper, was closed down along with dozens of other media outlets due to their links to the Gülen movement, which is accused by Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government of masterminding a coup attempt in July 2016.

Former Zaman employees Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç, Mehmet Özdemir, Ahmet İrem, Ali Hüseyinçelebi, Süleyman Sargın, Osman Nuri Arslan, Osman Nuri Öztürk, Lalezer Sarıibrahimoğlu, Nuriye Ural, Orhan Kemal Cengiz and Professor İhsan Duran Dağı, who used to work as a columnist for Zaman, are also named as defendants in the indictment, but they had previously been released on their own recognizance.

According to the Twitter posts of @P24DavaTakip, which follows the trials of journalists in Turkey, former Zaman columnist Alpay delivered his defense statement during Thursday’s hearing in which he denied the accusations directed against him.

Alpay said he is standing trial due to the articles he wrote in the Zaman daily, some of which included criticism of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AKP government.

The journalist said it is out of the question for him to write articles based on orders from anyone or any group including the Gülen movement. He said there is no evidence in the indictment proving that he wrote articles to serve the goals of the Gülen movement.

“The only reason I approached the Gülen movement with respect is because I looked at it from a sociological perspective, it was never because of a membership or belonging to this group,” said Alpay. The journalist also said by writing in the Zaman daily, he thought he could make a contribution to the conservative circles’ understanding of democratic values and the virtues of a state of law in Turkey.

During the hearing, lawyer Aynur Tuncel Yazgan, who represents both Alpay and Ural, presented a defense statement in which she denied the accusations against her clients.

The lawyer said neither Alpay nor Ural is a follower of the Gülen movement and that they were only involved in journalistic activities.

“The limits of the law should not be forced. When the limits of the law are forced, we get confused about how to present a defense,” said the lawyer.

Professor Dağı also delivered a defense statement during Thursday’s hearing and said he still does not know why he is standing trial and facing charges of disseminating the propaganda of a terror organization.
He said he stopped writing for Zaman in 2014 and had appeared on none of the Gülen-linked TV stations since 2012.

“In no part of my life have I had an attitude praising or encouraging violence. As for freedom of expression and the right to criticism, they are guaranteed by the law in democratic states,” Dağı said, while requesting his acquittal of all charges.
The trial will continue on Friday.

3 May 2018:

Feza Media Group trial ends, defendants sentenced

An Istanbul court on April 30 convicted 10 people affiliated with the shuttered Feza Media Group, best known as the publisher of the daily Zaman, on terrorism-related charges, CNNTurk and the media news website P24 reported. All of the defendants were acquitted on charges of "attempting to eliminate" the constitutional order, the reports stated.

According to the reports, the sentences are as follows:

- Hakan Taşdelen, the former manager for Feza's Fia production company, Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, the former manager for Feza's Cihan media company, and Faruk Akkan, Cihan's former general director, were each sentenced to 9 years in prison for "being a member of a [terrorist] organization." All three will remain in prison and their time served will count toward their sentences.

23 December 2016:

Court confiscates assets of 54 journalists

Istanbul's 11th Court of Penal Peace court confiscated the assets of 54 journalists, media workers, and writers, saying there was a "strong suspicion" that they were followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom the Turkish government accuses of maintaining a terrorist organization and "parallel state structure" (FETÖ/PDY, by its Turkish acronym), the news website Bianet reported today.

None of the 54 have been convicted of terrorism, most have not been charged with a crime, but most have been previously reported to be under investigation in the scope of a sweeping purge of suspected Gülenists that intensified after a July 15, 2016, failed military coup that the government blamed on the Hizmet movement, as its sympathizers call it. Of the 54, only Nuriye Akman and Lale Kemal were arrested, though subsequently released pending the conclusion of their trial. The other journalists, writers, and media workers whose assets the court froze are as follows: Zafer Özsoy, Yüksel Durgut, Veysel Ayhan, Şeref Yılmaz, Şenol Kahraman, Süleyman Sargın, Şahin Alpay, Sevgi Akarçeşme, Sedat Yetişkin, Ömer Karakaş, Osman Nuri Öztürk, Oktay Vızvız, Nuriye Ural, Nevzat Güner, Mümtazer Türköne, Mustafa Ünal, Murat Avcıoğlu, Mehmet Akif Afşar, Mehmet Kamış, Lale Kemal, Kemal Soydemir, Hüseyin Döğme, Hilmi Yavuz, Hamit Çiçek, Hakan Taşdelen, Fevzi Yazıcı, Faruk Akkan, Faruk Kardıç, Erkam Tufan Aytav, Melih Kılıç, Ekrem Dumanlı, Cuma Kaya, Cevdet Türkyolu, Bülent Korucu, Bülent Keneş, Ali Bulaç, Ali Ünal, Ali Akbulut, Alaattin Güner, Ahmet Turan Alkan, Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Zeki Önal, Osman Nuri Arslan, Metin Tamer Gökçeoğlu, Mehmet Özdemir, İhsan Duran Dağı, Hamit Bilici, Behçet Akyar, Adil Gülçek, Abdullah Katırcıoğlu, Abdullah Aymaz, Hüseyin Turan, İbrahim Karayeğen, and Mehmet Özdemir.

The new Turkey Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş. Columnist/op-ed contributor for Zaman newspaper

Trial of Zaman journalists resumes at İstanbul court

Feza Media Group trial ends, defendants sentenced

Court confiscates assets of 54 journalists

The new Turkey
Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş.
Columnist/op-ed contributor for Zaman newspaper