A German newspaper says a Greek photographer who was working for them has been turned back by Turkish authorities at Istanbul’s main airport.
The Bild daily reported that Giorgos Moutafis was prevented from continuing to Libya on Saturday evening. He was forced by Turkish authorities to take the next plane back to the Greek capital, Athens, on Sunday morning.
It quoted the photographer as saying he had been told at passport control that his name was on a list of people who weren’t allowed to enter Turkey, but wasn’t given a reason why.
He added that he entered Turkey six months ago with no problems, and that he cannot explain why he could have been banned since then.
The focus of his work is on the perils of asylum seekers travelling to Europe from the Middle East, but he also reported on the battle for the Kurdish city of Kobani in Syria, which may explain the Turkish authorities’ attitude.
The reported incident comes days after a journalist with a German public broadcaster was prevented from entering Turkey. Chancellor Angela Merkel says she discussed that case during a visit to Turkey on Saturday.
Turkish police also detained a Dutch columnist over a critical tweet she posted about Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, her newspaper said.
Turkey’s crackdown on the media is a hot topic in Germany after Merkel failed to oppose the prosecution of a comedian who recited a crude poem criticizing Erdogan. Ankara had complained that the poem was insulting.
Some 2,000 libel cases have been filed in Turkey against people accused of insulting the president.
Source: AP, RT
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