Erdogan’s war on media: Sputnik Turkey chief banned from entering Istanbul, told to fly to Russia
Russian news agency Sputnik’s Turkish bureau chief has been blacklisted by Ankara, who refused him entry to the country in an airport, and seized his residence permit and press credentials.
“I landed in Istanbul at 0:40 today with Aeroflot’s flight 2134. The border control staff held me at the passport control for some 10 minutes, then ushered me to the passenger control premises without explaining anything,” Sputnik’s Turkish bureau Chief Tural Kerimov told RT from the waiting room for passengers attending inspection and screening at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.
Kerimov says he presented all of the documents he had: Russian passport, boarding pass, Turkish press card and Turkish residence permit he had been granted earlier. The Russian journalist specifically stressed that Turkish border guards and airport authorities acted in a maximally polite and supportive manner. The border guards were not informed about the reason for the entry ban, Kerimov insisted.
After being held for about an hour, Kerimov was handed a notification he is a person unwelcome in the Turkish Republic and his entrance to the country is barred. Kerimov was ordered to leave Turkey with the first flight, but Kerimov insisted that it ought to be an Aeroflot flight and the Turkish authorities agreed to endure his presence till 2:55pm local time (11:55 GMT). Kerimov met with Russia’s consular representative and related the incident.
A representative of the Istanbul Security Administration’s press service told RIA Novosti that they would not comment on the background to the incident, adding that exclusion and deportation are standard procedures in any country and "not all security agencies possess information on such incidents.”
Last week, Sputnik was shut down by Turkey without prior notification under “administrative measures” imposed by the country’s authorities.
President Erdogan’s government has been clamping down on a number of Turkish media outlets that are critical of Ankara government’s policies. But this was the first time an international news agency has been silenced.
https://www.rt.com/news/340320-sputnik-turkey-chief-prohibited/
