Yesterday, two Turkish journalists were sentenced to at least five years in jail for revealing state secrets hours after a gunman tried to shoot one of them outside court in Istanbul.
While the pair was awaiting the verdict, an assailant attempted to shoot Mr Dundar outside of the courthouse during a break. The shooter allegedly yelled “traitor” before firing the two shots, but Dundar escaped the attack unharmed.
The pair was charged with trying to topple the government, on top of some other charges. Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, received five years and 10 months jail time. The bureau chief, Erdem Gul, received a lesser sentence with five years jail time.
This case has resulted in widespread condemnation from global rights groups and has increased the fears about the freedom of the press allowed in Turkey.
“We say the incident we covered was a crime, not our coverage” Mr Dundar said.
Last year, the Cumhuriyet newspaper published images of Turkish trucks carrying ammunition to Syrian militants. The paper claimed these images were proof Turkey was smuggling weapons to the rebels. The government rejected this claim.
Mr Erdogan has stated that the trucks belonged to the National Intelligence Organisation. These trucks were said to be carrying aid to Turkish men battling both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State.
Turkey has now taken control of opposition newspapers and broadcasters. They have also cut the satellite feed of a pro-Kurdish channel, accusing them of terrorism-related activities.
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