Attacks on journalists in the week after elections in Turkey

In the week following the May 28 elections, many journalists were targeted by media and officials close to the government; Kurdish journalists continued giving testimony to police and prosecutors in an operation started pre-election, while a journalist close to Alexei Navalny, announced she had been denied entry into Turkey. Investigations into election commentary Finance journalist Çiğdem Toker came under attack from both pro-government media and the official media watchdog for her remarks on 28 May evening on Fox TV. In televised remarks, Toker said: “Democracy is not just about the ballot box. We should not criminalize democratic protests." In response to this comment, pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) journalist Cem Küçük tweeted that Toker's remarks amounted to "calling for a coup". On May 30, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) announced that opposition TV channels HALK TV, TELE 1, KRT, TV 5, FLASH HABER and SZC TV were being investigated in connection with the elections. In this announcement, RTÜK also stated that journalist Toker's remarks were also under scrutiny. AKP council member attacks Medyascope reporter On May 30, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) Assembly met for the first time after the election. Medyascope reporter Ali Macit, who was filming a brawl that broke out during this session, was attacked physically  and effectively prevented from filming by AKP parliament member Uğur Korkmaz. During the July 2021 Afghan refugee crisis, Medyascope and its founder Ruşen Çakır were targeted by pro-AKP media and accused of being a mouthpiece for Western governments who allegedly found it in their interest for Turkey to take in and keep as many Afghan refugees as possible. Russian journalist denied entry to Turkey Irina Alleman, anchor of Popular Politics, a YouTube channel close to imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, announced that she was denied entry to Turkey, where she had arrived on May 25 to watch the run-off elections, due to "national security" reasons. Operation against Kurdish journalists On May 29, journalist Hakkı Boltan was detained at the police headquarters where he had gone to give his statement and was released on judicial control measures after giving his statement at Diyarbakır Courthouse on May 30. Boltan testified as part of an investigation launched in Diyarbakır on April 27. Ex-Hizbullah Kızılay executive files lawsuit against Birgün Şehmus Yıldırım, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Red Crescent, who was arrested in the 2000s for being a member of Hizbullah, filed a 250,000 TL compensation lawsuit against BirGün for reporting on the millions of liras worth of tenders he received from the public. In the May 14 elections, the history of the Free Cause Party (HUDA PAR), which entered parliament for the first time with four deputies, and its connection to the armed organization Hizbollah had been a subject of public debate before the elections. The Hizbullah in Turkey has no links to the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group Hezbollah. (Complied by Baris Altintas)