MOSCOW, December 16 (Sputnik) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu condemned on Tuesday the European Union reaction to the detention of Turkish journalists last week, the Hurriyet Daily reported.
On Sunday, Turkish police conducted nationwide raids, detaining 27 people, including journalists, TV producers and police officers. The raids followed the allegations that the US-based Muslim cleric, Fethulla Gulen, was attempting to overthrow Recep Tayip Erdogan's government. Most of the detained journalists are Gulen's supporters.
"The EU harshly criticized the legal process after seeing that some journalists were taken into custody, and there were some threats directed against us about stopping the negotiation process," Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet Daily.
Cavusoglu also criticized a letter by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), calling for the release of the detainees.
"You are talking about the separation of powers and independence of the judiciary, but at the same time you order the executive branch to release the detainees," the foreign minister was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
The Turkish foreign minister also noted that the journalists were arrested not because of their professional activities, but for the alleged involvement in a "crime syndicate".
Among the journalists detained last week are the chief editor of the Zaman newspaper Ekrem Dumanli, the chief executive of the Samanyolu television channel Hidayer Raraca, as well as two producers and a scriptwriter.
Following the detention, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn in a joint statement condemned the arrests, saying they are violating the freedom of media.
