Turkish journalist testifies over ‘terrorist propaganda’ for his critical tweet

ISTANBUL

HÜRRİYET Photo

An investigation was launched May 28 into social media posts made by a number of prominent media figures during the March 31 hostage crisis in Istanbul’s Çağlayan courthouse, Al Jazeera Türk has reported.

The Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office has summoned journalist and anchorman Mirgün Cabas to testify on charges of “creating terrorist organization propaganda” over his comments on the hostage crisis.

In addition to Cabas, academic Koray Çalışkan and journalists Pelin Batu and Banu Güven are also being investigated for their tweets on the incident, on the same charge.

“No matter how this [hostage crisis] ends, there is only one lesson to take: Do not shoot the children and do not boo the mothers,” Cabas had tweeted, referring to then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s encouragement of his supporters to boo the family of Gezi victim Berkin Elvan, while the latter was in a coma.

He later apologized for this tweet, after it drew a harsh reaction from some segments of society.

“I sincerely apologize to the relatives of the martyr prosecutor Selim Kiraz for yesterday’s tweet. I have said all my life that no cause can legitimize terror. I am also angry at myself for letting a lynch mob target both me and the group I work for,” Cabas said.

Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz was killed on March 31 after an eight-hour standoff that began after two members of the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) took him hostage, demanding that the police who killed 15-year-old Elvan during the 2013 Gezi protests publicly reveal themselves.