FRANCE-SHOOTING/TURKEY-NEWSPAPER Turkey newspaper probed for Charlie Hebdo excerpts

Record ID: 324371

  • Title: FRANCE-SHOOTING/TURKEY-NEWSPAPER Turkey newspaper probed for Charlie Hebdo excerpts
  • Date: 16th January 2015
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JANUARY 16, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF CUMHURIYET NEWSPAPER BUILDING SIGN READING: 'CUMHURIYET' POLICE VEHICLES PARKED OUTSIDE BUILDING POLICE OFFICERS ON GUARD POLICE OFFICERS OUTSIDE BUILDING BUILDING ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER EMPLOYEES STANDING OUTSIDE BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 31st January 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1C83MTU2RVIPEJX3W1G83BF1U
  • Story Text: A columnist for a Turkish newspaper which is being investigated after publishing excerpts from the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo said on Friday (January 16) that he has received thousands of death threats on social media platforms.
    Prosecutors in Istanbul opened an investigation into the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet for publishing the excerpts on Thursday (January 15), local media including the newspaper itself reported.
    The columnist, Hikmet Cetinkaya, who described the investigation as an unfair action, said the threats explicitly stated that the killing of the newspaper journalists was necessary.
    "I think this is an unjustified prosecution. I want to address those people who are in charge of running the Turkish Republic; me and Ceyda Karan have been receiving thousands of threat tweets on social media. They are openly saying that our murder is necessary. A lynch wave is spreading, a lynch wave," Cetinkaya told Reuters.
    The Turkish newspaper's editor-in-chief was not immediately available for comment.
    Cumhuriyet, a staunchly secular opposition newspaper, printed parts of Charlie Hebdo in an insert on Wednesday (January 15), one of five international editions of the satirical newspaper.
    Muslim clerics in the Middle East have denounced last week's attack on Charlie Hebdo but criticised the weekly for publishing new cartoons depicting Islam's Prophet Mohammad in its first issue after the killings.
    Cumhuriyet dedicated four of its pages to Charlie Hebdo articles and cartoons on Wednesday. It printed small, black-and-white versions of the cover - a cartoon of a tearful Mohammad - in two of its columns, but did not use the image in the special section itself.
    Insulting religious values is punishable with a prison term under a clause in the Turkish penal code.
    CNN Turk said the Istanbul prosecutors were investigating accusations that Cumhuriyet had incited hatred with its publication.
    Following the the launch of the investigation crowds gathered along the streets of Istanbul on Friday to protest against the newspapers' publication of the cartoons, where symbolic funeral prayers were held for the Kouachi brothers who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris last week.
    Protesters were seen holding a large banner showing a pictures of the two gunmen, Said and Cherif Kouachi, with an image of the Eiffel tower and a large explosion in the background.
    Others were seen holding small banners reading messages of support for the Kouachi brothers, such as: 'We are all Said Kouachi' and 'We are all Cherif Kouachi'.
    "Our government has already done what is necessary, so there is no need for Muslims to take action against this. But if they do it again then we will retaliate," said a protester who wished not to be identified.
    Seventeen victims and the three attackers died in three days of violence in Paris last week that began with an assault on the offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.
    French police arrested 12 people on Friday suspected of helping militant the Islamist gunmen involved in the Paris attacks.
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