Blog: Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 10

Police detain two journalists in separate raids
Police on February 12 detained Salih Turan, a freelance journalist who formerly worked for the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Voice of America and the Kurdish service of the Russian-state-funded outlet Sputnik, on accusations of "making propaganda of a [terrorist] organization" on social media and "being a member of a [terrorist] organization" meaning the PKK, the leftist daily Evrensel reported.

Turan was apprehended at his house in Istanbul and police confiscated his electronic devices. The journalist's lawyer was cited as saying that Turan was arrested for sharing his own news stories on social media, according to reports. Turan is at Silivri Prison in Istanbul, pending trial, according to the report.