MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The daily was closed for supposedly acting as a propaganda machine for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the organization outlawed in Turke.
This is not the first time the daily has found itself under pressure. On June 20, a Turkish court ordered the arrest and pre-trial detention of a journalist for the paper, Erol Onderoglu, and his two colleagues, Ahmet Nesin and Sebnem Korur Fincanci, who have been charged with spreading terror propaganda while participating in a campaign of solidarity with Ozgur Gundem.
Turkey's crackdown on journalists and restrictions on freedom of speech have been condemned by the international community, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia.
Turkey ranks 151st out of 180 countries in the RSF 2016 press freedom index.