Police Raid against Nokta Magazine

The police raided Nokta Magazine last night. Nokta Magazine Editor-in-Chief Cevheri Güven announced via his twitter account the magazine would be pulled off the shelf.

Magazine is pulled off, its twitter account is banned

According to the news of Hürriyet Daily, the last issue of Nokta was pulled off the shelf upon the request of İstanbul Police Department and the decision of Public Prosecution of İstanbul.

The charge against Nokta was “making propaganda of illegal organization and insulting the President”.

Besides, official twitter account of Nokta would be banned according to the court decision but the account is accessible now. 

Last issue of Nokta

Nokta prepared an image depicting the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan while taking a selfie in front of a funeral of a soldier.

Nokta’s Editor-in-Chief Cevheri Güven reminded that the Guardian published a similar image of Tony Blair but Guardian wasn’t sued against.

Journalist Fatih Vural from Nokta told bianet:

“Nokta represents a tradition. It is a magazine which published the bravest news and magazine covers

“However, Nokta hasn’t faced such a reaction even when it published those brave news and images.

“You understand the transformation of Turkey when you look at the transformation of the reactions towards Nokta. When you look at the reaction from 30 years ago, you’ll see that Turkey retrogresses. We understand today’s leaders are so much intolerant and they are afraid to face the truth.”

Managing Editor of Nokta Magazine, Murat Çapan, has been detained by the police this evening. (EA/EKN/HK/BD)

Click here to read the article in Turkish

This publication has been produced within the partnership with Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso for the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), co-funded by the European Commission. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of IPS Communication Foundation and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.