العربية
EnglishClaim: Reuters reporter taken into custody in Turkey
Turkey based Cihan News Agency claims a Reuters reporter is taken into custody in the city of Diyarbakir
Cihan News Agency
Cihan News Agency (CHA) claimed that Reuters Correspondent Faruk Yuce was taken into custody in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir while he was recording scenes from a rally organized by the Democratic Regions Party (DBP).1
The DBP is a social democratic pro-Kurdish party which succeeded another pro-Kurdish party, the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party). In 2014, the BDP has transformed into the DBP. Also, the DBP expressed explicit support for the HDP (People's Democratic Party) co-chair Selahattin Demirtas in his running for president.
According to CHA, Faruk Yuce was beaten up by the police for taking a picture of the police water cannon which was ready there for any probable incident during rally. Although other journalists tried to protect him, they failed to do so due to the intervention of a large number of police officers. CHA also claimed that Yuce was not set free even though the police said so. Various news outlets also spread CHA’s post.2
Fact-Checking Turkey contacted journalist Faruk Yuce and asked if he would confirm the narrative. He said while he was recording the rally with his cell phone the police took him behind the water canon and asked him to show his identity card. He said the treatment was harsh but he was not taken into custody and was set free afterwards, and also that the police apologized to him after he showed his ID and press cards. Moreover, he declared that he does not work for Reuters and is actually a freelance journalist.
CHA is known for its obvious link with the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) which is a combination of a religious cult and a deep-state structure whose members have been infiltrating crucial state institutions such as the police, the army and the judiciary for decades. FETO is headed by a US-based preacher named Fethullah Gulen who has lived in the US since 1999 after leaving Turkey with a fake diplomatic passport.