The
victory of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party this week is a blow to press freedoms and rule of law, Turkish opposition journalist Sevgi Akarcesme tells
Newsmax TV.
Appearing Tuesday on "The Hard Line," Akarcesme told host Ed Berliner she now fears for freedom as two of her editors already have been arrested and she has been sued over her tweets.
"We are one of the remaining free, independent and critical newspapers in Turkey," Akarcesme said.
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Three days ahead of Sunday's elections, a major television station was raided by police and seized by the government, she said.
"So threats against journalists are more than imminent in Turkey," Akarcesme said.
Erdogan's victory will make journalists an even bigger target, she said, because they are reporting on a two-year-old corruption case that hits him and members of his family. Police and judges have been jailed as well, including one judge who ordered a jailed journalist freed.
"The government has done everything in its power to silence opposition media to cover up the corruption investigation," she said. "This is not a democratic country anymore."
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