Turkey Arrests Five Photographers Covering Protests Against Istanbul Mayor’s Arrest
Turkey has arrested five photojournalists — including an AFP photographer — documenting the protests against the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the main political rival of the country’s president.
Tens of thousands of protesters took part in demonstrations across Turkey after Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, was detained on corruption charges and sent to a high-security prison on Wednesday.
Imamoglu’s arrest came on the same day he was named the opposition’s candidate against Turkey’s longtime president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the country’s next major election scheduled for 2028.
Imamoglu has been widely seen as the only politician who could defeat President Erdogan. Many Turks view the mayor’s arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove him from the next presidential race. President Erdogan has denied these accusations and claims Turkey’s courts are independent.
According to the Media and Law Studies Association, at least 10 journalists — of which five were photographers — covering protests over the detention of Imamoglu were detained in early morning raids today (March 24) in Istanbul and Izmir.
Among those taken into custody in Istanbul include prominent photojournalist Bülent Kılıç; Kurtuluş Arı, a photographer for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, AFP photojournalist Yasin Akgül, and Gökhan Kam, a photographer employed by the Bakırköy Municipality.
In a simultaneous raid in the western coastal city of Izmir, photojournalist Murat Kocabaş was detained after police stormed his home.
Evin Barış Altıntaş, who heads the Media and Law Studies Association, a human rights organization that supports journalists detained in Turkey, tells The Guardian that it is noteworthy that most of the journalists detained overnight were photographers.
“The main aim is to cut off the number of people taking photos at protests,” she says, pointing to threats from Ebubekir Şahin, the head of Turkey’s media regulator, RTÜK, to suspend broadcaster’s licenses for broadcasting live footage of the demonstrations.
Altıntaş adds: “There is a clear attempt to censor images and videos of the protests, and this is obviously a part of that,”
The Media and Law Studies Association says that the latest wave of arrests follows widespread reports of police violence targeting media workers, with more than 20 journalists assaulted by police or protesters in the past four days alone.
RTÜK head Şahin has reportedly denied any threats or that the media regulator’s actions threatened media freedom in Turkey, saying simply that: “The state will do what is necessary”.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
