Spanish journalist ‘deported over tweets’

Journalist Beatriz Yubero was taken into custody last week over tweets she shared about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, sources close to the issue said. Yubero was known to have been writing a thesis about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Yubero was not permitted to contact officials from the Spanish Embassy in Ankara, the same sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told Hürriyet Daily News. Eventually, she was deported as of Aug. 6 evening, the sources said. 

Spanish Embassy officials approached by Hürriyet Daily News said that Yunero had never contacted the embassy while she was in Ankara. It was normal procedure for a Spanish journalist who arrived in Ankara for study to contact the embassy, yet embassy officials said they never met Yubero. Thus, the embassy had no information concerning the incident.

Officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said they had “no information” regarding the incident and referred Hürriyet Daily News to the Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM). 

Officials from the BYEGM, affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office, said Yubero had never been accredited with their institution.