Turkey detains four foreign journalists

ANKARA

Children play on the railway tracks at Tell i-Refat train station in the northern countryside of Aleppo May 6, 2015. The station that connects the district of Aleppo with Turkey is out of service since nearly three years due to the conflict in the country. Picture taken May 6, 2015. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib

Turkey has said it caught four foreign journalists trying to illegally cross into Turkey from Syria, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on May 7. One of the detained journalists has been deported, while proceedings for the remaining three are still ongoing.

Citing sources from the Prime Ministry Press and Information Directorate, Anadolu Agency reported that two of the journalists were from Germany, one was from Brazil, and the other was from the United States. 

Christoph Arnd Reuter was caught on May 5 in a truck entering Turkey via the Öncüpınar border gate near Kilis on Syrian border. Reuter explained that he had gone to Aleppo on May 2 to cover the developments for his magazine, the agency reported, adding that he had been sent back to Germany on May 6. 

American citizen Eva Elizabeth Chappell was caught on April 25, while Brazilian citizen Gabriel Chaim and German citizen Robin Hirsh were caught on May 5 while illegally entering Turkey from Syria, the report stated. 

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Prime Ministry Press and Information Directorate Head Selahattin Haşimi said the four journalists were subject to a standard procedure that was applied to every foreign citizen caught while violating Turkish borders.