Turkey ratchets up crackdown at home as tanks roll into Syria

Source:Amnesty International Date:02Nov2019

Critical discussion on issues of Kurdish rights and politics has become even further off limits with hundreds of people detained merely for commenting or reporting on the offensive. They are facing absurd criminal charges, often under anti-terrorism laws, and if prosecuted and found guilty, they could face lengthy prison sentences.

On 10 October, a day after the offensive began, Turkey’s broadcasting regulatory body (RTÜK) warned media outlets that there would be zero tolerance of “any broadcasting that may negatively impact the morale and motivation of […] soldiers or may mislead citizens through incomplete, falsified or partial information that serves the aims of terror”.