Writers at Risk Database

Selahattin Demirtaş

Writer and leader of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, Demirtaş has been jailed since 2016 despite his detention being ruled unconstitutional and the ECHR ordering his release. In March… More

Writers at Risk Database

Ahmet Şık

Investigative reporter Şik was detained in 2011 for “spreading terrorist propaganda” in a book he wrote on the controversial Gülen movement. He was released a year later, but was… More

Fikret Başkaya

Başkaya, an academic and author of several books on topics including socialism, politics, and corruption in Türkiye, was arrested in November 2017 on the basis of an article he… More

Mustafa Erkan Acar

Acar, an author and editor for Zaman, a newspaper forced to close after the failed 2016 coup, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison in 2018 after a mass… More

Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu

Kalyoncu was detained in the crackdown following the failed 2016 coup. His writing and tweets were used as evidence of terrorism charges against him, resulting in a six and… More

Bayram Kaya

Kaya, who exposed the complicity of the Turkish intelligence service in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink, was detained in a sweep of journalists following the failed 2016 coup.… More

Writers at Risk Database

Bülent Şık

A writer, food engineer, and environmental activist, Şık was indicted in 2018 after he wrote articles discussing the results of a government study of pollution. In 2019, he was… More

Emre Soncan

Foreign military affairs correspondent and author Soncan was arrested in a purge of suspected followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, who was blamed for the July 2016 attempted coup.… More

Mümtaz’er Türköne

Police detained Türköne, a columnist for the daily Zaman, as part of a purge of suspected Gülenists after the failed July 2016 coup. Türköne was sentenced in 2018 to… More

Writers at Risk Database

Necmiye Alpay

Alpay was detained following the 2016 coup attempt for her connection to pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem. After four months in detention, she was conditionally released in December 2016. She… More