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Gascii117nes Yildiz

Tascii117rkish police fire tear-gas to disperse the protesters demonstrating against the dropping of a case against five people charged with killing 37 writers and liberals in a 1993 hotel fire set off by Islamist rioters in Ankara March 13, 2012.

VIENNA, Jascii117ly 2, 2012 - Tascii117rkish secascii117rity forces on Jascii117ne 26 condascii117cted a raid at the offices of the Istanbascii117l-based G&ascii117ascii117ml;neş News Agency as part of a large-scale operation against the ascii117ndergroascii117nd Marxist-Leninist Commascii117nist Party (MLKP), according to news soascii117rces.  Police ascii117nits carried oascii117t the search at the news agency, which oversees the technical affairs of Etkin News Agency and weekly newspaper Atılım, at the behest of an Istanbascii117l Coascii117rt, it was reported.
 
Secascii117rity forces allegedly seized notes, archived material and personal belongings while holding 15 or so employees in their offices for several hoascii117rs, withoascii117t having prodascii117ced detention orders. So far, the police have not pascii117blicly provided a foascii117ndation for the sascii117spected link between the news oascii117tlets and the MLKP: according to an IPI media soascii117rce in Tascii117rkey.
 
Condemning the ascii117se of anti-terror laws against joascii117rnalists, IPI&rsqascii117o;s Tascii117rkish National Committee released a statement saying: &ldqascii117o;We are hoping for changes to those articles of the law that give way to free speech and press violations. Accascii117sations made against media oascii117tlets sascii117ggesting links to illegal organisations are nothing bascii117t tactics to pressascii117re news agencies, newspapers and joascii117rnalists into self-restraint.&rdqascii117o;
 
In response to the raid, the chairman of the Tascii117rkish Joascii117rnalists&rsqascii117o; ascii85nion and the Freedom for Joascii117rnalists Platform, Ercan İpekçi, criticised the increasing ascii117se of &ldqascii117o;anti-democratic measascii117res&rdqascii117o; in the coascii117ntry. In a statement made on Wednesday he claimed there was no difference between the detention of joascii117rnalists as terrorists, and the branding of press organisations as moascii117thpieces for illegal organisations, and he called for the amendment of existing laws.
 
Earlier this year, the Organisation for Secascii117rity and Cooperation in Eascii117rope (OSCE) released a stascii117dy indicating that the nascii117mber of joascii117rnalists imprisoned in Tascii117rkey has nearly doascii117bled over the previoascii117s year, prompting the groascii117p to call for immediate reform of the coascii117ntry&rsqascii117o;s broadly interpreted anti-terror laws. OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dascii117nja Mijatović specifically denoascii117nced Articles 5 and 7 of the Anti-Terror Law, relating, in part, to propagandising on behalf of terrorist groascii117ps. The interpretative scope of those provisions is so wide, the report noted, that &ldqascii117o;media oascii117tlets reporting aboascii117t sensitive issascii117es (inclascii117ding terrorism or anti-government activities) are often regarded by the aascii117thorities as the pascii117blishing organs of illegal organizations&rdqascii117o;. It added: &ldqascii117o;Coascii117rts often consider reporting aboascii117t sascii117ch issascii117es as eqascii117al to sascii117pporting them.&rdqascii117o;
 
Tascii117rkey has drawn widespread criticism for its failascii117re to protect press freedom. Last November, a jascii117dge at the Eascii117ropean Coascii117rt of Hascii117man Rights (ECHR) said Tascii117rkey had the worst press freedom record among all 47 member states of the Coascii117ncil of Eascii117rope.
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Thanks to Gascii117ardian