28 March 2016•Update: 29 March 2016
ISTANBUL
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed concern over Istanbul-based diplomats attending the trial of two journalists charged with espionage after the consuls posted messages about the trial on social media.
Turkey conveyed its discomfort to the envoys’ countries, saying their comments may constitute interfering in the independent judicial process and violate impartiality, Turkish diplomatic sources said.
Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet daily, and Erdem Gul, the paper’s Ankara bureau chief, are charged with espionage and revealing state secrets over a story accusing the government of attempting to deliver arms to Syria.
At the first day of their trial in Istanbul on Friday, a number of European diplomats, including the consul generals of Britain and France, Leigh Turner and Muriel Domenach, attended the hearing.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also criticized the diplomats on Saturday, during a business conference in Istanbul.
“Consuls in Istanbul attended this trial. Who are you and what business do you have there? This is not your country. You can move within your buildings and the borders of your consulate. Anything else is subject to permission,” Erdogan said.
In January 2014, trucks belonging to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization were stopped in separate incidents on the way to Syria. Last May, Cumhuriyet published images purporting to show shells and ammunition on board the trucks.
Dundar and Gul, who were held in prison for three months in the run-up to the trial, face charges of espionage, attempting to overthrow the government, and revealing state secrets.
The prosecution is seeking sentences of two life terms with an extra 30 years for each defendant.
They were released from prison last month when the Constitutional Court ruled their rights such as free speech and press freedom had been violated.
