Turkish court imposes int’l travel ban on journalist Altaylı for 'praising crime and criminals'

A Turkish court has imposed an international travel ban on journalist Fatih Altaylı for allegedly praising a university student who punched a man carrying the "Tawheed" (Tevhid) flag, often associated with jihadists.

Friday January 05 2024 09:38 pm

Duvar English

A Turkish court on Jan. 5 imposed an international travel ban and judicial control measures on renowned journalist Fatih Altaylı for “praising crime and criminals,” and “publicly inciting and humiliating a section of the people to hatred and enmity,” Demirören News Agency reported.

As part of two separate investigations, Altaylı gave testimony at the Press Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Courthouse.

One of the investigations was launched into Altaylı for allegedly praising university student Ege Akersoy who punched a man with the “Tavheed” flag, associated with jihadists, who was returning from the Free Palestine march on Jan. 1.

After the incident went viral and stirred a huge discussion on social media, Altaylı wrote “thank you” in a social media post without mentioning or retweeting any other information.

Then another investigation was launched into him over “publicly inciting and humiliating a section of the people to hatred and enmity” for a YouTube video in which he said “I said one thing, ‘Thank you’ without referring to any subject. (I might praise) the ones who catch the puncher or the puncher. It could be anyone. Who's going to understand what?.”