Exiled Turkish journalist attacked outside home in Germany

Erk Acarer is critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government and has been living in exile in Germany since 2017. (File/Politurco)

• Exiled Turkish journalist living in Germany was attacked by three men who warned him to stop writing.
• Turkish authorities have issued multiple arrest warrants against Acarer with regard to his articles and social media messages.

BERLIN: Turkish journalist Erk Acarer, one of several reporters critical of Ankara living in exile in Berlin, said Thursday he was attacked and injured outside his home and told to stop writing.
Acarer said in a video posted to Twitter that three armed assailants ambushed him in the courtyard of his building late Wednesday in an account confirmed by police.
A unit that investigates political crimes has taken over the probe.
The reporter, a columnist for the left-wing Birgun newspaper, said he was treated in hospital and released.
Acarer, who has lived in Germany since 2017, said he recognized the attackers and that one warned him against continuing to write.
Accusing the ruling AKP and the nationalist MHP of involvement in the assault, Acarer vowed to keep working as a journalist.
Turkish authorities have issued multiple arrest warrants against Acarer with regard to his articles and social media messages, including one accusation of “insulting the president” over a news article published in 2020.
Fellow Turkish dissident writer Can Dundar, who fled to the German capital in 2016, slammed the assault on Twitter as a “direct message” from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to show that Ankara “can even attack a journalist in Berlin who is critical of the regime.”
A Turkish court in December sentenced Dundar, the former editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet daily, to more than 27 years in jail on espionage and terror charges for one of the reputable paper’s stories.
Journalist Mesale Tolu, a German citizen who in 2017 spent several months in jail in Turkey, also spoke out in Acarer’s defense.
“So many people seek protection in Germany and are still subjected to aggressive violence here,” she tweeted.
“That’s got to stop.”
Turkish press workers’ union DISK Basin-Is tweeted its support for Acarer.
“You cannot cover up the truth through such attacks,” it said. “We stand by Erk Acarer.”
Rights groups routinely accuse Turkey of undermining press freedom by arresting journalists and shutting down critical media outlets.
The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists listed Turkey as one of the top jailers after China in its most recent annual global report.