A Turkish journalist known for being critical of the government has been detained on orders from an Ankara court while an investigation is ongoing.
It concerns Müyesser Yildiz, the editor at the opposition-minded Oda TV. Journalist Ismail Dükel of channel Tele1 was also detained but has now been released.
The court accuses Yildiz of “political and military espionage” for reporting alleged encounters between top Turkish soldiers and Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, Oda TV said.
Haftar fought an armistice last Saturday against the Libyan government army, which is officially supported by Ankara. With the help of the Turkish military, the government armies managed to push back Haftar’s troops.
Two Oda TV journalists were already arrested in March after reporting about the funeral of an employee of the state security service MIT, who was killed in Libya.
The journalists would have acted in violation of the law by publishing the identity of the killed spy. Both are still stuck.
The Turkish government does not tolerate much journalistic research into the trade and trade of the army. In 2016, prominent journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül were sentenced to five years and ten months in prison for leaking state secrets.
They have been charged with espionage, overthrowing the government and supporting a terrorist organization following revelations about Turkish arms supplies to rebels in Syria.