Güncel Newspaper Also Closed

A heavy penal court in Istanbul has stopped the "Güncel" newspaper from publishing for twelve days, arguing that it is the continuation of the "Gündem" newspaper which has been closed for 15 days.

"Gündem" had been closed on 15 July 2007 for an article on pre-election opinions in Batman, a province in the south-east of Turkey, published on 12 July and entitled: "Batman's message: Look after the guerrillas".

Election censorship

Mehmet Samur, the editor-in-chief of the "Güncel" newspaper evaluated its closure in the daily "Evrensel" newspaper as "election censorship". The newspaper will be closed until 28 July, six days after the general elections take place.

Samur argued that there was no legal basis for the closure. The fact that "Gündem" and "Güncel" are published by the same company does not imply a relationship of continuity. Major media groups, he argued, were not treated in this way.

He added that the decision was illegal and antidemocratic, and that "they want to silence the Kurdish and the oppositional press". (EÖ/EÜ/AG)