Hundreds held over criticism of Syrian offensive on social media
TURKEY has detained more than 300 people for social media posts criticising its military offensive in Syria, the government said on Monday, a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused doctors who opposed the campaign of betrayal.
Since launching its 10-day-old air and ground offensive against the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria’s north-western region of Afrin, Turkish authorities have warned they would prosecute those opposing, criticising or misrepresenting the incursion.
The Interior Ministry said on Monday a total of 311 people had been held for “spreading terrorist propaganda” on social media in the last 10 days. Detainees have included politicians, journalists and activists.
The military operation has been widely supported by Turkey’s mainly pro-government media and by most political parties, with the exception of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). But there have been dissenting voices.
Over the weekend, Turkish media reported that 170 artists had written an open letter to lawmakers from Mr Erdoğan’s ruling AK Party calling for an immediate end to Turkey’s incursion.
Last week the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) denounced the cross-border operation, saying “No to war, peace immediately.”
On Sunday, Mr Erdoğan accused the union of treason. “Believe me, they are not intellectuals at all, they are a gang of slaves. They are the servants of imperialism,” he told AK Party members in Amasya.
“This ‘No to war’ cry by this mob is nothing other than the outburst of the betrayal in their souls. This is real filth, this is the honourless stance that should be said ‘no’ to,” Mr Erdoğan said.
On Tuesday a Turkish prosecutor ordered the detention of 11 senior members of the TTB, including its chairman.
The association’s lawyer Ziynet Özçelik said that the doctors faced accusations of “propaganda in support of a terrorist organisation, and provoking the public”. Mr Özçelik said it was the first time in the association’s history that all its executive members had been ordered detained.
Turkey’s Health Minister Ahmet Demircan was quoted by Hürriyet newspaper as saying the union had no right to make such a statement and added that the health ministry had filed a lawsuit to have the union’s administration removed.
Last Saturday Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on Twitter that the TTB and the Turkish Engineer and Architect Chambers Association (TMMOB), which has backed the medics, cannot use the word “Turkish” in their names, saying they did not represent Turkish medics, engineers and architects.
The crackdown on top medics drew swift criticism from an international medical organisation and rights group Amnesty International, who called for protection for the members and an immediate end to the legal proceedings.
Separately, the Furkan Education and Service Foundation, a group that runs Islamic schools, said several of its members had been arrested. Those detained included the group’s chairman Alparslan Kuytul, who had made remarks deemed to be criticising Turkey’s military offensive.