Ergenekon coup plot trial convict journalist Türkkan to stay in Germany

ISTANBUL

The chief editor of Turkish broadcaster Ulusal Kanal, Adnan Türkkan, who was sentenced to 10.5 years in the Ergenekon case verdict that was handed down last week, tweeted late Aug. 12 that he would be staying in Germany. AA photo

The chief editor of Turkish broadcaster Ulusal Kanal, Adnan Türkkan, has said on his personal Twitter account that he had decided to stay in Germany despite an arrest warrant issued against him due to his conviction in the Ergenekon coup plot case.

Türkkan, who was sentenced to 10.5 years in the Ergenekon case verdict that was handed down last week, tweeted late Aug. 12 that he would be staying in Germany, adding that he would continue journalism.

“The allegations appearing in various press organs that I had ‘requested asylum from Germany’ are not true. I will continue my profession here,” read Türkkan’s tweet Aug. 12.

Türkkan had flown to Germany with fellow journalists at the end of July to attend a conference.
Türkkan also said in his serial tweets that he would not quit free journalism and that they were planning a breakthrough for Ulusal Kanal and Turkish daily Aydınlık’s European structuring. Both media outlets are staunch critics of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

“The prisons are filled with patriots. From now on, we will not give up one single Aydınlık member to gladio courts,” he tweeted. “We have devoted our existence to the nation’s existence.”

Türkkan had said he would be staying in Germany but would not be seeking asylum as “it could be considered as an admission of defeat,” first in an interview with German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that appeared on Aug. 11.

A lawyer from Frankfurt was working to obtain Türkkan a residence permit as a freelance journalist, the German daily reported.

“The deep state is not destroyed. The process revealed a new deep state,” Türkkan is quoted as saying.