Turkish court issues gag order on reporting of Mosul hostage crisis

ISTANBUL

Demonstrators chant pro-al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as they wave al-Qaeda flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, June 16. AP Photo

Turkey’s Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) has delivered a court ruling to newspapers, television and websites on June 17, announcing a broadcast and publication ban on reports relating to the kidnappings of Turkish citizens in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Some 49 members of Turkey’s Mosul Consulate and 31 truck drivers were kidnapped by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), after they seized Mosul late June 9. One of the Turkish drivers managed to escape over the weekend.

According to the June 16 ruling of the 9th Heavy Penal Court in Ankara, the ban will continue until the investigation to "secure the Turkish citizens who were in Turkey’s Mosul Consulate and were taken by the terrorist organization ISIL to an unknown location [is completed]."