Journalist Ahmet Şık leveled sharp criticism on Turkey’s anti-terrorism laws and the religious Fethullah Gülen community while addressing the Liberal Democrat Group in the European Parliament in Brussels on March 28, only 16 days after his release from prison.
“Many journalists who assumed a critical stance toward the AKP [Justice and Development Party] and the Gülen community, the government’s invisible partner, [or] attempted to maintain a dissident outlook toward their policies either lost their job or had to keep quiet through auto-censure,” journalist Şık told his audience at the European Parliament.
Şık cited the names of Ruşen Çakır, Nuray Mert, Çiğdem Anad and Mehmet Altan as some of the journalists who were fired after slight criticisms, and went further to elaborate on the elusive nature of the Gülen community.
“The Gülen community is a phantom. They are everywhere but nowhere. They are the cause of fear in society because they control the police,” he said, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
