Defiant Turkey editor still writes in jail

Imprisoned a month ago on charges of spying and revealing state secrets, the editor of Turkey’s leading Opposition daily remains defiant in a case that raised new concerns about press freedom under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Since Mr Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) swept back to power in a November election, the police has already launched crackdowns on the President’s rivals and Opposition media, raising fears about the government’s commitment to democracy.

Cumhuriyet editor Can Dundar was placed under arrest and charged on November 26 along with the paper’s Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul.

The pair have been incarcerated in the Silivri prison outside Istanbul pending trial at an undetermined date, receiving a steady stream of supporters who say they have been jailed simply for speaking the truth.

The charges relate to articles and videos published by Cumhuriyet, claiming to show the Turkish secret services making an illicit arms delivery to Islamists in Syria in January 2014.

Imprisonment has also not stopped Mr Dundar — a hugely prominent figure in Turkey and the author of several books — from writing his regular columns in the newspaper where he has detailed prison life and expressed no regret.

Despite the absence of its editor, Cumhuriyet remains defiant and has published new anti-government allegations despite facing increasing pressure, like a new tax inspection.

“Dirty relations with IS on the border,” Cumhuriyet headlined on Monday, publishing phone conversations.

“We are only doing our job, which is to inform the public of what is going on in our country,” Tahir Ozyurtseven deputy editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet said.