ago saying a blackout was needed to protect a transitional deal reached with the opposition protest leader said the military was trying to hide evidence of a violent crackdown that killed more than 100 people. but israel and president nicolas maduro has met with the european union representatives as efforts to end the country's political crisis increases the e.u. is hoping that its void can help convince my dear road to allow a free and fair election he an opposition leader one who has declared himself acting president already agreed to resume crisis talks the 2 sides would engage in a bitter power struggle since january. russian president vladimir putin says he does not support imposing sanctions on georgia he made the comments in a televised address after russia's parliament recommended the sanctions is in response to weeks of mass protests in georgia against russian influence in its government putin said he did not want to negatively impact relations between the countries. as for sanctions i would rather not do it as respect the

children people the sake of the story. or anything complicated. and qatar has signed a deal with the us to buy a craft from the plane make a boeing agreement was announced at the white house where the emir of qatar shift i mean when ahmed el fani president trump it was one of several deals with u.s. companies on defense energy and aviation. those were the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after listening post station thanks for watching by for. we understand the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it al-jazeera will bring in the news and current affairs it's that much of . which is iraq.

not just for. journalistic turkey because i. think i'm. going to show. hello i'm richard just put in you're watching a special edition of the listening post coming to you from istanbul last month turkey's president regift type air to one held a rare press briefing for journalists here in that meeting area once said that freedom of the press was of quote vital importance to him it was a statement that failed to square with the facts let alone the numbers because for each of the past 3 years ever since july of 2016 when an attempted coup failed to depose erda one turkey has imprisoned more journalists than any other country in the world in this program we will take you behind those numbers unraveling a complex and sometimes contradictory picture

a story that we'll examine in 3 parts to begin with we'll look at the many journalists who have fled turkey to avoid ending up behind bars later the ironic flipside to that story how a country that's been described as a living hell by many of its own reporters has become a safe haven for journalists from other countries primarily arab ones who come here to work for fear of being jailed at home in between we'll get a perspective on the government's treatment of journalists including behavior that borders on the dictatorial. from one of president air to one staunchest supporters in the turkish news media but 1st a listening post flo phillips on journalists in exile park watch. just a few months before i was kicked out i was a already attracted a lot of attention by the government with my reporting back that.

there was a arrest warrant against me we thought that they wouldn't come to the new zipper so i actually stayed in the newspaper overnight but they came to the new server and my editors were staying with me so they told me that i should flee from that door. i left turkey because of the prosecutions that had been brought against i had already been to jail for my journalism so this time i chose a different path. i was facing 20 to 25 years in jail my passport has been revoked yes i feel so like many refugees i got on a boat and crossed the marriage river to greece will tuesday when you understand english i published the story evolved the government of turkey who was trafficking it to a neighboring country illegally. i

found myself in jail 1st and then he makes. of course leaving the country was the easy decision i left my hometown my family went to all my papers my library my dog. everything my life. left behind. but they knew that this is the price of being a journalist. janda. chad ash kept saying. just. among school is a turkish journalists now living in exile for the past few years the government of president has carried out an aggressive campaign monitoring targeting prosecuting and jailing reporters the some the situation became so dire that only option was to flee. with one of the most prominent newspaper editors in turkey he rang him her at

the country's oldest daily center left paper that week team investigated and took home the ruling government for the past 3 years he's been living here in berlin he came here after spending time in a turkish prison for publishing a story that exposed illegal arms support weapons that the turkish intelligence services were providing fighters in syria he was sentenced to almost 60 years behind bars and he decided that life in turkey was no longer an option. he couldn't deny the story because it was true but he said it was a state secret so it shouldn't be good for you so i was getting a lot of threats by the government by the crew or i was attacked in front of the court told. i saw someone coming through with. he called

me just pray to so you were convicted for revealing state secrets but you pleaded innocent and were peeling the decision why didn't you stay in the country to play on day because. i lost trust in traditionally. of to the military coup attempt. alone changed the whole system the 1st thing he has done was to arrest the high judges who decided for a release so they're still in jail without the independent justice really can't defend yourself so death going to be in. putting my hat into the team. on july 15th 26th a fraction of the turkish army attempted a coup it was a spectacular. using some of the very media outlets he's been attacking the other

one running popular support stopping the coup in its tracks. on. the government to pin the blame on the gunas movement forces loyal to the islamist cleric photo pulling a one time ally turned and in. the event was a watershed moment in the country's history and for the media it marked a seismic shift in them for. within 2 weeks more than 100 media outlets had been shut down and in the years since those considered inconvenient to the government have been taken over by over one allies while journalists critical of his policies have been systematically rounded up and imprisoned. one of the media houses forced to close with zama a company widely seen as close to the good in his movement magazine a lot of work to zam an english language newspaper today's them. but his struggle

with the government had started well before the coup on 25th of december 2 dozen 13 i wrote an article about the corruption case which targeted president so when i wrote that story all hell broke loose for me one of the. just published my picture just saying that turkey beware of this traitor and on that they present are due on pressed charges against me thinking after 6 years in prison why do you think the government and other one specifically took such extreme measures. yes there are some red lines that you should not cross one of them is undoubtedly corruption investigations that target the present iraq and the other thing is the military coup attempt you cannot question it there's also the kurdish issue there are over 60 journalist. deported from the country and most that most of them or kicked out of expelled from the country just because they wrote about kurdish

issue kurdish conflict. the battle in the southeast of the country between turkey and kurdish insurgents demanding equal rights no tommy. has lasted more than 40 years the leading insurgent group classified as a terrorist out that. is the kurdistan workers' party on the p.k. . the group its leaders and its message are all red line issues covering human rights abuses by turkish forces is fraught with challenges and kurdish language media operate under significant restrictions. chadash kaplan was one of 32 kurdish journalists arrested back in 2011 for him the most dispiriting thing was not so much his arrest but the lack of support and solidarity from his fellow journalists . the journalists who didn't speak up for the kurdish media back then today they are the ones being victimized i hope my colleagues don't mind my criticisms because

i criticize them on any platform for example zemo newspaper when the man was shot down i defended them and said it was illegal but when i was arrested in 2011 men labeled me oppressed terrorist. he's absolutely right and i think. yesterday and today failed to support those causes and that's the tragedy. is that the victim does not support the other victims and kurds have always been alone in this fight. they're not alone anymore all 3 of these exiled journalists have been classed as quote terrorists by the turkish state we contacted various representatives of the government requesting interviews however none of the officials agreed to speak with us. from their homes in athens washington d.c. and berlin kept plans in

a lab and continue with their journalism it hasn't been an easy journey particularly so. what sort of pressure or intimidation you continue to feel both from the turkish government but also from the pro i don't want supporters living here in germany. 8 and they're a little for a dog fanatics around and they are trying to intimidate and there's an. intelligence. to vist here i guess there are informants among the society another one himself came to germany and called you out is that right. there. just really he has from government to give me back to turkey what's in scott german government knows with what's going on into. the some of turkey's exiled journalists those goings on resemble a living hell one in which the ability to report freedom to hold power to account

and to expect and process seems all but dead and buried. freedom of the press in this country has been buried in a big grave bio leaders not just by it we have to fight for it just like our other rights we have the power to dig up these fundamental rights from the grave but we can only do that by resisting otherwise it's impossible that. we wanted to get the urge to want government's response to some of the allegations made by saying a lot and capital. journalists the turkish state cost terrorists we requested interviews with a number of senior state officials including the president's director of communications his spokes person and his special advisor none of them agreed to speak. so we asked for an interview with jim and air 2 on loyalist and a prominent face on the privately owned t.v. channel t g r t. agree with strict conditions he said he did not want to

answer any questions about the turkish government's handling of specific journalists in particular the exiled reporters we interviewed he said our questions would be better answered by a representative of the state he did however defend certain other statements about the media made by president heir to juan and some of his closest advisers telling kids they can you know listen. to a little. show. she just loves. because it interested in that. police are looking. for the boss to all of a little look if you juggle a little bit at the each scene. you get the focus on the street you saw

the person so to useful. to you to know if you like you don't. get to. hear the 1000000000 you don't give a good. listen i mean if you and you thought of america what the democrats. and the other. was on with a kid who's going to name you dejected kid. like you done today. in the old and on the back is all on your son when you son if you that because it. should be can and you're too good for your project a little on the love there are no journalists imprisoned no when i said there are no journalists there are no people convicted of journalism for what they've written the old one they've done as journalists. they are convicted on johns

a lot i mean one of the bombers from one of the t.v. shows and your little computer guy for g.q. opposition from cheney or give him a button on. fathers or go to all that shit and shit all to do all this and get up measureless for a cheeky little issue nobody. goes it is good kenyan fishing wish mishra who commit unit to make a chimp shift move on because it is good in the corner but he can i do believe he's going to try to come where we are but for the caregiver to bow to the q. b c took on the on the man childish more than addition your own. maybe on an issue of. money needing son the good fight the soul of. the singing all gone and. polka do not see are situated in it limits in a minute inch color the gin usually does not also of course which more the news.

cycle for you michel the. song was on goes it in television not on drugs your that and in turn is so then and cite that it. will not be 1000000000 in kind i learn of the good you have me committed and yes a lot of guys to learn to do from out of money computer. than that of others i'm on a mission doesn't want to kiddish doing stupid what if it was just said fold them walk up on one and they've survived as i want to get it. in your pure goodness. then it still. shows you new. journalism may be under siege here in turkey but there's a specific group of journalists foreign ones thriving here in the aftermath of the arab spring hundreds of reporters from egypt yemen libya and syria have all fled authoritarian governments oppression prosecution in some cases war to come to

turkey there are more than a dozen arab t.v. stations now based in this country most of them right here in istanbul beaming their content back home to the arab world now the irony of all of this as well as the apparent hypocrisy turkey jailing its own dissident journalists while playing host to those from foreign countries is not lost on either turkish reporters or their foreign colleagues they all know that there are politics at play here we've come to istanbul to speak to arab journalists about life in exile as well as the space that's been carved out for adversarial journalism aimed at the arab world. that in. fact he was there but then i don't. see the next laugh. of the new. the case the last nothing that.

was in the had the key to attached to. the book on the computer not cloudy. and i mean look at the. sooty in the new court and on some of the luck to. him. and had the size of. them to. come a lot in this. unit. and yet the but that we need to have labels on them emailed me that. net nanny menu me either you. know.