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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)
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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.

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Taiwan Demonstrates Sea Defenses against Potential Chinese Attack as Tensions Rise with Beijing

A Taiwan navy Tuo Chiang-class corvette(rear) and Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat (front) maneuver during a drill in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 09 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
A Taiwan navy Tuo Chiang-class corvette(rear) and Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat (front) maneuver during a drill in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 09 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
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Taiwan Demonstrates Sea Defenses against Potential Chinese Attack as Tensions Rise with Beijing

A Taiwan navy Tuo Chiang-class corvette(rear) and Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat (front) maneuver during a drill in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 09 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
A Taiwan navy Tuo Chiang-class corvette(rear) and Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat (front) maneuver during a drill in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 09 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

Taiwan on Thursday demonstrated its sea defenses against a potential Chinese attack as tensions rise with Beijing, part of a multitiered strategy to deter an invasion from the mainland.
The island’s navy highlighted its Kuang Hua VI fast attack missile boats and Tuo Chiang-class corvettes in waters near Taiwan’s largest port of Kaohsiung, a major hub for international trade considered key to resupplying Chinese forces should they establish a beachhead on the island.
The Kuang Hua VI boats, with a crew of 19, carry indigenously developed Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missiles and displayed their ability to take to the sea in an emergency to intercept enemy ships about to cross the 44-kilometer (24-nautical mile) limit of Taiwan’s contiguous zone, within which governments are permitted to take defensive action.
China routinely sends ships and planes to challenge Taiwan’s willingness and ability to counter intruders, prompting Taiwan to scramble jets, activate missile systems and dispatch warships. Taiwan demanded on Wednesday that China end its ongoing military activity in nearby waters, which it said is undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and disrupting international shipping and trade.
Mountainous Taiwan's strategy is to counter the much larger Chinese military with a relatively flexible defense that can prevent Chinese troops from crossing the strait. Landing sites are few on Taiwan's west coast facing China, forcing Beijing to focus on the east coast.
Hsiao Shun-ming, captain of a Tuo Chiang-class corvette, said his ship’s relatively small size still allows it to “deliver a formidable competitive power” against larger Chinese ships. The Tuo Chiang has a catamaran design and boasts high speeds and considerable stealth ability.
Taiwan has in recent years reinvigorated its domestic defense industry, although it still relies heavily on US technology such as upgraded fighter jets, missiles, tanks and detection equipment. US law requires it to consider threats to the island as matters of “grave concern,” and American and allied forces are expected to be a major factor in any conflict.
Thursday's exercise “demonstrates the effectiveness of asymmetric warfare, and Taiwan’s commitment to defense self-reliance,” said Chen Ming-feng, rear admiral and commander of the navy’s 192 Fleet specializing in mine detection. “We are always ready to respond quickly and can handle any kind of maritime situation.”
China's authoritarian one-party Communist government has refused almost all communication with Taiwan's pro-independence governments since 2016, and some in Washington and elsewhere say Beijing is growing closer to taking military action.
China considers Taiwan a part of its territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, while most Taiwanese favor their de facto independence and democratic status.