Turkish novelist freed but top journalist held for ‘terror propaganda’

ISTANBUL: Asli Erdogan, one of Turkey’s most celebrated novelists, was released from jail on Thursday, looking exhausted after 132 days of pre-trial detention, declaring that she could barely believe she was free. On the other hand, police have detained a journalist for what they said engaging in “terrorist propaganda.”
Erdogan has been in prison on charges of terror propaganda on account of her links to a pro-Kurdish newspaper, in a case that has caused an international outcry over freedom of expression.
“I do not realise it yet, I am in shock,” she said, appearing drawn, tired and emotional in front of the Bakirkoy women’s prison in Istanbul.
“They take you and throw you into a hole. It’s very hard, it’s like I’m still inside,” she added, before bursting into tears.
An Istanbul court ordered that Erdogan and Necmiye Alpay, an internationally prominent linguist, be released.
The pair were taken into custody in August as part of a probe into the now shut-down newspaper Ozgur Gundem, which Turkish authorities say is a mouthpiece for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
But the fate of Erdogan and Alpay, author of widely praised translations of Western novels into Turkish who had been in custody for 120 days, is still unclear.
The case against them remains active and they could still face life imprisonment if convicted. The next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 2.
Police on Thursday detained an investigative journalist for questioning over a series of social media postings, while a novelist and eight of her former colleagues at a now-defunct newspaper went on trial over terror-related charges.
Ahmet Sik, a strong government critic, was detained in Istanbul on suspicion that he “denigrated” the Turkish state, its military and police and engaged in “terrorist propaganda” on Twitter, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. The journalist tweeted as he was being taken away: “I’m being taken before a prosecutor for a tweet.”