Turkey arrests Cumhuriyet CEO Akın Atalay

ISTANBUL

Turkish judicial authorities arrested the CEO of daily Cumhuriyet on Nov. 12, a day after he was detained as he arrived at Istanbul Atatürk Airport following a trip to Germany.

Akın Atalay was arrested for “being a member of a terrorist organization.”

The CEO’s lawyer, Bahri Belen, released a statement, saying they would continue to defend “law until the very end.”

“We will defend law, democracy, rights and freedoms as lawyers until the very end because the salvation of this country will come with determined lawyers,” Belen said, while also thanking those that supported them.

“We know that this is not a judicial decision, but a political one. Of course we will object to it, even though we know the objection will be rejected,” he said. 

Nine more of the newspaper’s staff were arrested last week, including its editor-in-chief, Murat Sabuncu. The staff are accused of “terrorist” activities in connection with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who is widely believed to have masterminded the July 15 failed coup attempt.