The Turkish interior ministry has deported US journalist Jake Hess and ban him from re-entering the country. Arrested by anti-terrorist police in the mainly Kurdish southeastern province of Diyarbakir on August 11, Hess was deported on August 20 after being held for nine days.
In its release in response to Hess' arrest, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) had demanded his immediate release and warned that his expulsion would not be an appropriate solution.
“My client's articles are said to have put the Turkish government in a delicate position,” his lawyer, Serkan Akbas, said. “The grounds given by the authorities for expelling him and banning him from re-entering the country are the fact that his name is on a list of people accused of links with the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KSK).” The KSM is a new organisation that is alleged to be an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Hess has told RSF he intends to bring a complaint against the interior ministry with the aim of getting the re-entry ban lifted. He also said he would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
