Two British journalists detained in southeast Turkey

DİYARBAKIR

DHA Photo

Turkish police have detained two British journalists from Vice News for reporting from the country's southeast without government accreditation, security sources said on Aug. 28.

Police detained Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır province, where they were filming clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants, the sources told Reuters. 

The two Britons and their Turkish translator were in close contact with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants, the same sources said. 

"We are aware of the arrest of two British nationals in Diyarbakir.  Our consular officials in Turkey are providing consular assistance and are in touch with the Turkish authorities,” British Embassy officials told Hürriyet Daily News. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on authorities in Diyarbakır to release the detained journalists immediately.

"We call on Diyarbakır authorities to immediately release Jake Hanrahan, Philip Pendlebury, and their fixer, and allow them to continue working in the region," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said.

"The renewed clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish separatists in the volatile southeast are of public interest to both domestic and international audiences. Authorities ought to protect, not gag journalists on the job."

Vice News describes itself as an international news organization that focuses on under-reported stories around the globe.