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Inconvenient tweets

POSTED ON October 18 th, 2018

Turkey is ranked 157th among 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders. True to this dubious distinction, Istanbul’s 35th High Criminal Court brought terrorism charges against Sebla Küçük for her verbatim translation and tweeting of three English-language news pieces (two from Reuters and one from a journalist) relating to “Operation Olive Branch.” The latter refers to Turkey’s euphemistically named military intervention in Afrin, a district and city in northern Syria, to oust the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Fortunately, the court recognized the absurdity of these charges and acquitted Küçük in November 2018.