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.



Russia's Economy Minister Says the Country is on 'the Brink of Recession'

People gesture as they shop in a supermarket in Moscow, Russia June 26, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
People gesture as they shop in a supermarket in Moscow, Russia June 26, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
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Russia's Economy Minister Says the Country is on 'the Brink of Recession'

People gesture as they shop in a supermarket in Moscow, Russia June 26, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
People gesture as they shop in a supermarket in Moscow, Russia June 26, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo

Russia's economy is “on the brink of going into a recession,” the country's economy minister said Thursday, according to Russian media reports.

Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov delivered the warning at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the annual event in Russia's second largest city designed to highlight the country's economic prowess and court foreign investors, The AP reported.

Russian business news outlet RBC quoted the official as saying “the numbers indicate cooling, but all our numbers are (like) a rearview mirror. Judging by the way businesses currently feel and the indicators, we are already, it seems to me, on the brink of going into a recession.”

The economy, hit with a slew of sanctions after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, has so far outperformed predictions. High defense spending has propelled growth and kept unemployment low despite fueling inflation. At the same time, wages have gone up to keep pace with inflation, leaving many workers better off.

Large recruiting bonuses for military enlistees and death benefits for those killed in Ukraine also have put more income into the country’s poorer regions. But over the long term, inflation and a lack of foreign investments remain threats to the economy, leaving a question mark over how long the militarized economy can keep going.

Economists have warned of mounting pressure on the economy and the likelihood it would stagnate due to lack of investment in sectors other than the military.

Speaking at a forum session, Reshetnikov said Russia was “on the brink,” and whether the country would slide into a recession or not depends on the government's actions.

“Going forward, it all depends on our decisions," Reshetnikov said, according to RBC.

RBC reported Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Central Bank Gov. Elvira Nabiullina gave more optimistic assessments.

Siluanov spoke about the economy “cooling” but noted that after any cooling “the summer always comes," RBC reported.

Nabiullina said Russia's economy was merely “coming out of overheating," according to RBC.