We Are Arrested: A Journalist's Notes from a Turkish Prison

Can Dundar

ISBN 10: 1785901389 / ISBN 13: 9781785901386

Published by Biteback Publishing, 2016

About this Item

Following the dramatic events of July 2016, the global spotlight has fallen on Turkey's increasingly authoritarian government, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. International observers fear the attempted coup has given Erdogan, already known for his attacks on press freedom, an excuse to further suppress all opposition.In November 2015, Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of the national Cumhuriyet newspaper, was arrested on charges of espionage, helping a terrorist organisation, trying to topple the government and revealing state secrets. His transgression? Publishing photographic evidence of a highly illegal covert arms shipment by the Turkish secret service to radical Islamist organisations fighting government forces in Syria - a crime that was in the government's interest to conceal, and a journalist's duty to expose.Arraigned by the President himself, who called for Dundar to receive two life sentences, he was held in solitary confinement in Turkey's Silivri Prison for three months while awaiting trial.We Are Arrested is Dundar's enthralling account of the newspaper's decision to publish and the events that unfolded as a result - including would-be suicide bombings, assassination attempts and fierce attacks from pro-government media - as well as the time he served behind bars for defending the public's right to know.

Seller Inventory # 0057095

Bibliographic Details

• Title: We Are Arrested: A Journalist's Notes from a Turkish Prison
• Publisher: Biteback Publishing
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1785901389
• ISBN 13: 9781785901386
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

"Can Dündar is a very courageous journalist." —Orhan Pamuk

In November 2015, Can Dündar, editor-in-chief of the Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, was arrested on charges of divulging state secrets and espionage. Condemned and arraigned by the President himself, Dündar's "crime" was informing the public of the discovery of a highly illegal covert arms shipment. The story revealed that the country's intelligence service was secretly shipping weapons to Syria, making Turkey a party to the Syrian civil war. This was a crime that it was in the government's interest to conceal, and a journalist's duty to expose.

The title of We Are Arrested is taken from Can Dündar's tweet on the day he was detained. This book is his account of the discovery, the decision to publish it, and the events that unfolded after that decision. Dündar and the newspaper faced police barricades, would-be suicide bombers and assassination attempts, and fierce attacks from pro-government media.

Incarcerated in Silivri Prison, Dündar decided to write down his experiences. Here, in isolation, he learned to appreciate the small things in life. Most importantly, he realised that courage in an age of fear is essential if the public's right to know is to be defended.

Following the events of July 2016, in which elements of Turkey's armed forces staged an attempted coup against the country's government, prompting backlash from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, this book stands as a beacon for free speech.

Can Dündar is editor-in-chief of the venerable daily newspaper Cumhuriyet. In May of 2016 he was sentenced to imprisonment for five years and ten months for "leaking secret information of the state."

About the Author

Can Dündar: Can Dündar studied at Ankara University, the London School of Journalism and the Middle Eastern Technical University Department of Political Sciences. He was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyetin 2015.