Turkey Escalates Media Crackdown Over Protest Coverage

Turkey stepped up its crackdown on both student protesters and press coverage of the mass demonstrations gripping the country on Thursday, generating defiance but also a growing sense of fear.

"It's a bit scary today, there are too many police," a 21-year-old protester called Raftel told AFP at a rally in Istanbul, his face covered by a mask.

"We're here for our rights but I'm scared," he said, his words echoing the unease felt by thousands of young demonstrators who are still flooding Istanbul's streets, eight days after the arrest of its mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.

Turkey's response to its worst bout of street unrest since 2013, has drawn criticism from across Europe.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday sharply rebuked Ankara over its "systematic attacks" on opposition figures, civil society, freedom of assembly and "the Istanbul mayor's arrest and jailing".

Britain also weighed in after Turkey deported a BBC journalist covering the protests, saying it expected Ankara to ensure "the upholding of... the rule of law, including timely and transparent judicial processes", a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

BBC correspondent Mark Lowen was taken from his Istanbul hotel on Wednesday and detained for 17 hours before being deported on grounds that he posed "a threat to public order", the broadcaster said, describing it as "an extremely troubling incident".

Turkey slapped a 10-day broadcast ban on the opposition Sozcu TV channel on Thursday, the same day that it freed 11 Turkish journalists arrested for covering the protests.

Among them was AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, who was arrested at dawn on Monday and jailed a day later on charges of "taking part in illegal rallies and marches".

His jailing drew outrage from rights groups and the Paris-based news agency, which denounced his jailing as "unacceptable".

Despite his release, Akgul's lawyer told AFP that the charges against him had "not been dropped" and the investigation would continue.

AFP chairman Fabrice Fries had condemned Akgul's jailing, demanding he be rapidly released as he was "not part of the protest" and only covering it as a journalist.

The arrests had sparked international condemnation, including from the United Nations.

Defying a protest ban, vast crowds have hit the streets daily, with the nightly rallies often descending into running battles with riot police, although the nightly clashes have tapered off since Tuesday.

Protesters who rallied in Istanbul on Wednesday, most with their faces covered, told AFP they felt a growing sense of unease with police often making threats if they did not remove their masks.

"There are some very serious illegal things going on here, young people have been beaten for days. We're here now and the police won't let us pass without uncovering our faces," said Baturalp Akalin, 25, a rare protester with his face uncovered.

"Many politicians are being detained unlawfully and they don't even need to provide any justification. We young people are on the streets of Istanbul to defend our country's democratic rights."

Asena Orman, a 28-year-old protester with her face covered, said the police were not allowing them to express legitimate protest.

"It started with the arrest of Imamoglu, but it has continued with the violence, beating and arrest of our friends. There are many reasons to take to the streets, but we're here to defend our cause and the police don't let us," she told AFP.

Earlier, medical students and a handful of lecturers hit the streets of the capital Ankara as they did on Wednesday.

So far, more than 1,879 people have been detained since March 19, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

And Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc insisted that Turkey was a "state of law" with a justice system that was independent and impartial, rejecting any claim Imamoglu's arrest was "political".

In an op-ed for T24 news website, Turkey's Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk said he had "never witnessed such 'security measures' on the streets of Istanbul in the last 50 years".

What little is left of Turkey's democracy was "dying", he wrote.

"This limited democracy ends with the candidate who is most loved by the people and who will receive the most votes in the next election being thrown in jail."