Turkish court arrests Voice of America reporter Arif Aslan

A Turkish court on June 16 arrested Voice of America reporter Arif Aslan hours after he was detained in the southeastern province of Van. The reason for the detention and arrest remains unknown. Media reports said that he was arrested over a previous case into him.

Duvar English

A Turkish court on June 16 arrested Voice of America reporter Arif Aslan hours after he was detained in the southeastern province of Van.

Aslan, who was covering the Democracy March of the Kurdish issue-focused Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), was detained in a morning raid on his home.

The reason for the detention and arrest remains unknown. Media reports said that he was arrested over a previous case into him.

In 2017, Aslan was detained over "being a member of an armed terrorist organization."

Dozens of journalists are currently imprisoned in Turkey - the country that ranks near bottom of various press freedom indexes and is the world's biggest jailer of journalists.

Erdoğan's aide condemns wounding of TRT World journalists by US police, urges press freedom
Erdoğan leads in presidential race, outperforms expectations Google excessively recommends pro-government media outlets Half of Turkish men own gun, says foundation THY dismisses pilot for opposing regulation on praying in cockpit Turkey lifts visa requirement for six countries Family left homeless after landlord increases rent by five-fold