Warning to the Germans .. Participation and admiration are subjected to imprisonment in Turkey


The German Foreign Ministry on Tuesday urged German citizens to be vigilant during any activity on social networking sites when visiting Turkey.
This warning highlights the deterioration of freedoms in Turkey in recent years, especially after the failed coup attempt on Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The State Department said that in individual cases it was enough to engage or admire, to "suspend someone else" to people to get into trouble.

Travel advice suggests that the Germans should assume that their own comments may be condemned anonymously and legal accountability is launched in Turkey.

Many German citizens, including Turkish nationals, have been arrested in Turkey in recent years for allegedly supporting terrorist groups.

The warnings come amid a continuing campaign of arrests in Turkey, under the pretext of supporting terrorist groups and belonging to the Fathallah Gulen group accused of involvement in the failed coup.

In a report entitled "Black Comedy," the Center for Human Rights refuted what he considered "lies" launched by Erdogan, last Sunday, in his speech, opening the headquarters of the Turkish Youth Foundation in Istanbul.

Erdogan said that "the freedom of any person or ethnic or religious group has not touched in Turkey during the past 16 years," that is, after he took the post of prime minister in 2001.

"No one is discriminated against or racist in Turkey, in terms of clothes or appearance, we try to remove barriers between young people and their dreams," he said.

Erdogan said that his government continues to work to preserve the rights and freedoms and strengthen democracy "although some used to distort the truth."

According to the Stockholm Center for Freedoms, which is interested in highlighting democracy, fundamental rights and freedoms in Turkey, the reality is "quite different" to the pink proposal presented by the Turkish president.

Erdogan's government has been used to crack down on the Kurdish People's Democratic People's Party (CDP) since the failed coup attempt in July 2016, according to the report.

According to party figures, more than 10,000 of its members are currently in prison, including 9 deputies (including former presidential candidate Salaheddin Demertash) and about 100 elected mayor.

In addition, the government separated 95 of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and most of them were brought to trial.

A total of 93 others and 81 members of the municipal councils in southern Turkey have been detained in areas of concentration of Kurds, who represent 20 percent of the population, most of whom have been charged with terrorism.

Despite Erdogan's talk about rights and freedoms, dozens of deaths have been reported in Turkish prisons since July 2016, according to a report by civilian observers, due to ill-treatment and torture. Most of the time, the authorities declared suicide deaths without transparent investigations.

Turkey ranks No. 157 out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom in 2018, according to Reporters Without Borders, and if two more centers retreat, they will be placed on the "black list" of the organization.

Numerically, Turkey is seen as the "largest prison for journalists in the world", with 377 journalists behind the walls, most of them without trial, while the memoirs await about 148 others living abroad and wanted in Ankara.

According to official figures, Turkey had more than 600,000 people accused of terrorism and belonging to the Fatahullah Gulen group, which Erdogan accuses of masterminding the attempt, and arrested tens of thousands of them.

Ankara closed some 200 media outlets and branded them with terrorism, including Kurdish news agencies and newspapers.

However, the targets in Turkey surpassed journalists. Arbitrary decisions affected military personnel, judges, teachers and academics, not only by arrest but by dismissal and demobilization, as well as by the closure of thousands of schools and businesses.