Mahir Zeynalov, a journalist for Today’s Zaman, left Turkey for his native Azerbaijan on Friday morning following a government decision to deport him for posting tweets critical of the government.Zeynalov, a national of Azerbaijan, has been put on a list of foreign individuals who are barred from entering Turkey under Law No. 5683, because of “posting tweets against high-level state officials,” Today’s Zaman has learned. The decision, dated Feb. 4, is signed by Deputy Police Director Ali Baştürk on behalf of the interior minister.
Article 19 of Law No. 5683, which covers foreigners’ residence in Turkey, allows the deportation of foreigners “whose residence in Turkey is considered detrimental to public security and political and administrative requirements.”
The move comes in an already-troubling atmosphere for media freedom. Late on Wednesday, Parliament passed a controversial bill tightening government control over the Internet in a move that critics say is aimed at silencing dissent.
The decision to authorize the deportation of Zeynalov came after an application to the Prime Ministry’s Coordination Center (BİMER) that “statements contrary to the facts” were being made on the Twitter account @mahirzeynalov. That application was followed by a formal request to police intelligence to identify the owner of the account, and the intelligence unit discovered the account’s owner to be Zeynalov. The decision to deport Zeynalov and ban his entry into Turkey came following the verification that the account in question belongs to Zeynalov.
Zeynalov is already the target of a criminal complaint filed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for some tweets he posted on Dec. 25, 2013 about a graft scandal that shook the government last year, as Erdoğan says the tweets included “heavy insults and swear words in a bid to provoke the nation to hatred and animosity.”
Zeynalov, in formal testimony given about the accusations last week, denied the charges of attempting to “incite hatred and animosity” among the public, noting that he had only tweeted links of two news reports that included no opinion or criticism.
The first tweet contained a link to a news report about the second wave of a massive graft operation and the police’s obstruction of a raid involving more than 40 suspects, including Saudi businessman Yasin al-Qadi — who is on the US’s list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Turkish media close to the government immediately launched a smear campaign, accusing Zeynalov of “trying to portray Erdoğan as protecting al-Qaeda members” to the world.
“Turkish prosecutors order police to arrest al-Qaeda affiliates, Erdoğan’s appointed police chiefs refuse to comply,” read the first tweet. In the second tweet, Zeynalov shared a news report detailing al-Qadi’s escape from the country after police chiefs blocked the raid on Dec. 25, 2013.
The government’s draconian measures to expand government control over the media have elicited criticism from the opposition at home, the European Union and international media freedom watchdogs.
Today’s Zaman
