Turkish Court Brings Terror Charges Against Two Vice News Reporters

Vice News reported last week that Turkish authorities had detained two of the company’s journalists who were filming clashes in Turkey’s restive Kurdish region, allegedly without government permission. The journalists now face a much harsher accusation, with a Turkish court Monday charging them with “engaging in terror” on behalf of the Islamic State.

If convicted, the reporters could potentially serve as much as four-and-a-half years in prison. Alternatively, if the Turkish government treads lightly, the courts may sentence them to a prison term of only four months. Or, in a display of leniency, Ankara may drop the charges altogether.

Tensions between the Turkish government and the country’s sizeable Kurdish minority erupted in late July following the collapse of a shaky, two-and-a-half year truce. On August 27, when the journalists were arrested, seven people, including four civilians, perished amid fighting in southeast Turkey, where the Kurdish population is concentrated.

Vice News, which prides itself on reporting from volatile places, is no stranger to dangerous political situations. In 2014, pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine abducted a Vice News reporter from the United States who was traveling in the area. Vice News caught a lucky break when the militants released their detainee after three days.

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Some observers believe that Turkey’s membership in NATO and its aspirations of joining the European Union may restrain it from taking its case against the reporters too far. “I think Turkey could backtrack at some point,” said Merve Tahiroglu, a research associate with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. “They are a NATO ally, and this will cause a large backlash from Western nations.”

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