Turkish Authorities Block Newspaper Website for Reporting Military Deaths in Libya

Journalists outside an Ankara court protest over the jailing of colleagues with a banner reading in Turkish 'journalism is not crime', March 10, 2020 (AFP)
Journalists outside an Ankara court protest over the jailing of colleagues with a banner reading in Turkish 'journalism is not crime', March 10, 2020 (AFP)
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Turkish Authorities Block Newspaper Website for Reporting Military Deaths in Libya

Journalists outside an Ankara court protest over the jailing of colleagues with a banner reading in Turkish 'journalism is not crime', March 10, 2020 (AFP)
Journalists outside an Ankara court protest over the jailing of colleagues with a banner reading in Turkish 'journalism is not crime', March 10, 2020 (AFP)

Turkish authorities blocked the website of Yeni Yasam newspaper, days after its editor-in-chief and its news director were sentenced to prison for violating Turkey’s national intelligence laws and disclosing secret intelligence information on the funerals of two Turkish agents who were killed in Libya in February.

The newspaper issued a statement Monday announcing that the Information Communication and Technologies Authority (ICTA) executed the decision banning access to its website without stating the reason for such a decision.

The ruling was issued on September 15 by the First Circuit of the Magistrate and Penal Court in Hatay.

The decision came after authorities ordered the imprisonment of the newspaper’s editor, Mehmet Ferhat Celik, and the news director Aydin Keser, for reporting the funerals.

They were sentenced on September 9 to four years and eight months in prison on charges of exposing information and documents relating to intelligence activity.

Seven other journalists were also referred to trial on charges of revealing state secrets, after covering the death of the intelligence officers in Libya and exposing security agents who attended the funeral.

The charges against the journalists focus on articles and social media posts published after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement last February, in which he spoke about the Turkish military casualties in Libya.

Turkey provides military support and training to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, against the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

In August, a Turkish court rejected a request to release journalists Baris Pehlivan and Hultay Kilinc from Odatv news website, and Murat Agirel, a columnist for Yenicag.

The court rejected the three journalists' request given the evidence against them, such as well-sourced reports confirming a strong suspicion of crime, criminal complaints from the National Intelligence, and witness statements.

It also claimed there was evidence that they could escape the country or hide.

Defense lawyer for the three journalists, Hasan Ersuz, refuted the decision, saying the witness statements did not bear any charges against them.

He also indicated that there is no suspicion that they would flee the country, or that evidence could be destroyed, stressing that the Constitutional Court must consider the request to release them.



Danish PM Arrives in Greenland for Three-Day Visit amid Trump Pressure

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, right, and her husband Bo Tengberg is greeted by Greenland's Acting Head of Government, Múte B. Egede after arriving at Nuuk airport, Greenland, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, right, and her husband Bo Tengberg is greeted by Greenland's Acting Head of Government, Múte B. Egede after arriving at Nuuk airport, Greenland, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
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Danish PM Arrives in Greenland for Three-Day Visit amid Trump Pressure

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, right, and her husband Bo Tengberg is greeted by Greenland's Acting Head of Government, Múte B. Egede after arriving at Nuuk airport, Greenland, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, right, and her husband Bo Tengberg is greeted by Greenland's Acting Head of Government, Múte B. Egede after arriving at Nuuk airport, Greenland, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Denmark's prime minister landed in Greenland on Wednesday for talks with the Danish semi-autonomous territory's incoming government, following US President Donald Trump's repeated expressions of interest in controlling the vast Arctic island.

Mette Frederiksen begins her three-day trip less than a week after a visit to the territory by US Vice President JD Vance received a frosty reception from authorities in Denmark and Greenland.

The Danish leader said ahead of her visit that she aims to strengthen Copenhagen's ties with the island and emphasized the importance of respectful cooperation amid what she described as "great pressure on Greenland".

Frederiksen was expected to speak to the media later on Wednesday.

Greenland's incoming Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who won last month's parliamentary election and will form a coalition government, has welcomed Frederiksen's trip, saying on Monday that Denmark remains "Greenland's closest partner".

Nielsen's new coalition is expected to formally take office on April 7.

Relations between Greenland and Denmark have been strained after revelations in recent years of historical mistreatment of Greenlanders under colonial rule. However, Trump's interest in controlling Greenland, part of a growing international focus on competition for influence in the Arctic, has prompted Denmark to hasten work to improve ties with the island.

Nielsen told Reuters late on Monday that Greenland would strengthen its ties with Denmark until it could fulfil its ultimate wish to become a sovereign nation.

'RESPECTFUL'

Meanwhile, Greenland wishes to establish a "respectful" relationship with the United States, he said.

"Talking about annexation and talking about acquiring Greenland and not respecting the sovereignty is not respectful. So let's start by being respectful to each other and build up a great partnership on everything," he said.

Frederiksen's visit is primarily about signaling support at a time of intense scrutiny, said Ulrik Pram Gad, an academic at the Danish Institute for International Studies.

"It is important for Denmark to signal to Greenland that Denmark is Greenland's closest friend and ally - and to the US that it stands behind Greenland," he said.

During his visit to a US military base in northern Greenland last Friday, Vance accused Denmark of not doing a good job of keeping the island safe and suggested the United States would better protect the strategically-located territory.

Frederiksen, who has said it is up to the people of Greenland to decide their own future, called Vance's description of Denmark "not fair".

Opinion polls show that a majority of Greenland's 57,000 inhabitants support independence from Denmark, but many oppose seeking independence too quickly, fearing their island could become worse off and expose itself to US interests.