Taraf newspaper columnist Amberin Zaman received a death threat over Twitter after the release of her article entitled “ISIS will kidnap journalist in Turkey”.
Twitter closed the account after its user wrote the following: “I will chop you, infidel.”
Zaman said that she received a phone call from a western embassy in Ankara and was warned to be careful if she ever planned to travel to the [Syrian] border.
“Especially, the danger is great nearby Suruç district,” the diplomat allegedly warned her.
“The western media workers are at great risk,” the diplomat told her.
bianet report: Threats don’t end
Released on October 22, the latest bianet media monitoring report confirms that threats against journalists are still valid in Turkey.
According to the report, 21 journalists and 1 local newspaper publishing facility were attacked in the period of July-September 2014.
In addition to that, 1 news website was blocked, 2 online newspaper headquarters were raided by the police, 4 journalists were verbally assaulted and 3 journalists and 2 newspapers received threats.
The report also mentioned of a letter that included assassination plots against Taraf newspaper columnist Murat Belge and T24 columnist Aydın Engin.
Erdoğan targetted as well
In August, then-PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan targeted Amberin Zaman a reported affiliated with The Economist.
“Know your limits, nasty woman,” Erdoğan told Amberin Zaman. (EÖ/BM)
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.
