Erdem Gül

The hunt for the members of the "parallel structure," or "parallel state," terms used by President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) circles to define the followers of Fethullah Gülen, has finally gone wild.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has called the daily Cumhuriyet report on intelligence trucks bound for Syria "espionage against the state." 

"There is an issue of espionage in the [Cumhuriyet's] National Intelligence Agency (M?T) reports. Literally, the subject is about aid materials sent to Bay?rbucak Türkmens, not about the two journalists expressing their opinion," Davuto?lu said.

A key advisor for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has criticized Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmu?'s remarks on the president's comments over the top court ruling that led to the release of daily Cumhuriyet journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, saying the president's statement had not been personal, but rather made as the head of state.

The International Press Institute (IPI) Turkey National Committee has paid a visit to Cumhuriyet journalist Can Dündar who was released early on Feb. 26 after 92 days in Silivri Prison together with Erdem Gül, the Ankara bureau chief of the newspaper. 

When Turkey's Constitutional Court made a landmark decision last week to free two imprisoned journalists, everything first looked fine. The two scribes in question, Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, had been in jail for 92 days for a news story they ran months ago exposing that the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (M?T) was shipping weapons to some groups in Syria.

Here is the brief story: 

- Unknown people release input that shows Turkish intelligence trucks bound for Syria with cargo that hardly looks like tents, food or medicine. That input is already in the public domain. Prosecutors launch a probe into the cargo and its lawfulness. 

Turkey's Constitutional Court rulings are binding for everyone, the head of the top court has said following critical statements from the country's president over a ruling that led to the release of two journalists who were arrested in late 2015 over a news report about trucks allegedly carrying weapons to Syria.

The head of Turkey's Constitutional Court has defended a recent ruling on the release of jailed Cumhuriyet journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, saying its rulings are binding for everyone following criticism from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.

The Constitutional Court's ruling on daily Cumhuriyet's Editor in Chief Can Dündar and Ankara Bureau Chief Erdem Gül will help restore confidence in Turkey's legal system, which increasingly has appeared to have been co-opted by the Presidency and the party in power.

Turkish lawmakers have engaged in a noisy and almost physical dispute in parliament over remarks by President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an on a top court ruling that led to the release of two journalists who were arrested in late 2015 over a news story on state-owned trucks allegedly carrying weapons to Syria.