Turkey, on Wednesday, demanded the extradition of fugitive journalist Can Dündar, former editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, who was recently sentenced in absentia by an Istanbul court to 27 years and six months in prison, only to be immediately rejected by German authorities.
"Can Dündar was convicted on charges of espionage and assisting a terrorist organization. To call him a journalist – and his sentence, a blow to free speech – is an insult to real journalists everywhere. Instead of endorsing his crimes, our counterparts should extradite him to Turkey," said Fahrettin Altun, Turkey's presidential communications director, on his official Twitter account, sharing the tweet in German, English and Turkish.
Wegen Agententätigkeit und Unterstützung einer militanten Terrorgruppe verurteilte Can Dündars Aktivitäten können nicht unter Pressefreiheit subsumiert werden.
Das heutige Urteil unter Verstoß gegen die Meinungsfreiheit zu bewerten, ist eine Beleidigung für Journalisten.
— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) December 23, 2020
German Foreign Ministry authorities responded immediately, speaking to Deutsche Welle (DW) Turkish on Thursday, explaining that the country does not extradite political convicts and highlighting the importance of the freedom of the press.
Dündar, who fled to Germany in 2016 during his trial and remains a fugitive, was given a sentence of 18 years and nine months for obtaining confidential information to be used in espionage and another eight years and nine months for aiding the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
The prosecutor had asked for a prison term of up to 35 years for Dündar after the Court of Cassation ordered a retrial after the journalist was sentenced to five years in a previous trial. The defendant was heading Cumhuriyet when the newspaper published photos, so it claimed, of the content of trucks belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (MIT) in 2015.
Upon the announcement of the sentencing on Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on his Twitter account that, "Journalism is an indispensable service to society especially when it critically watches the rulers.” He said that the decision against Dündar is a “hard blow to independent journalistic work,” attaching Dündar’s account in the tweet.
"Freedom of the press is a fundamental right, it must not only be possible at the highest personal risk," he continued.
In January 2014, trucks belonging to MIT carrying aid to northern Syria – where Turkmens had been exposed to heavy airstrikes and attacks by the Bashar Assad regime – were intercepted by security forces on the orders of former Adana Public Prosecutor Özcan Şişman and Brig. Gen. Hamza Celepoğlu. The supplies in the trucks were seized, and MIT agents were handcuffed before being detained. The case stunned the nation, as it was the first time that the military explicitly intervened in the affairs of the intelligence agency. It was later revealed that the raid was a plot by FETÖ to embarrass and discredit the government, via FETÖ's followers who had infiltrated the military and judiciary.
Last year, a court ruled that the incident was a plot planned and executed by FETÖ “to harm the state.” The prosecutor in his indictment said that Dündar “served purposes” of FETÖ against the government, state and MIT.
FETÖ, led by Fetullah Gülen who currently resides in Saylorsburg in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, orchestrated the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey through its military infiltrators. It has faced heightened scrutiny since then. Thousands of people linked to the group have been detained or arrested following the coup attempt.
