Latest news with #MarkLowen
LBCI
27-03-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Turkey deports BBC journalist over 'public order' threat, fines TV channels
Turkish authorities deported a BBC News correspondent on Thursday after detaining him for 17 hours and branding him a "threat to public order." Mark Lowen had been in Turkey to cover mass street protests triggered by the arrest and jailing of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. BBC News CEO Deborah Turness called the deportation "extremely troubling" and said the broadcaster would raise the issue with Turkish authorities. Lowen, who previously lived in Turkey for five years, said his expulsion was "extremely distressing", adding that press freedom is essential to democracy. Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's biggest political rival who leads him in some polls, was jailed on Sunday, pending trial on corruption charges which he denies. Imamoglu and his supporters say his detention is politically motivated and anti-democratic, an assertion that Erdogan's government denies. His arrest has prompted the largest anti-government protests in Turkey in more than a decade and has led to the detention of nearly 1,900 people across the country. Meanwhile, Turkey's media watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), imposed fines on four broadcasters over coverage related to the arrest of Imamoglu, a RTUK member said. Sanctions were issued against programmes aired on pro-opposition channels SZC TV, Tele1, and Halk TV as well as NOW TV, for alleged violations. Additionally, SZC TV was ordered to halt broadcasting for 10 days, with RTUK warning that a third violation could result in the revocation of its licence. Reuters
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
BBC reporter Mark Lowen detained, deported while covering Turkey protests
March 27 (UPI) -- BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen said Thursday that he was detained and ultimately deported while covering mass protests in Turkey. "Some news about me," Lowen wrote in an X post. "Yesterday I was detained by police in Istanbul, held for 17 hours and then deported from Turkey to the U.K.," and that he was "Told I was 'a threat to public order.'" The BBC released a statement Thursday addressing Lowen's arrest. "This is an extremely troubling incident and we will be making representations to the Turkish authorities," BBC News CEO Deborah Turness said. Turness then complimented Lowen's work and rebuked what Turkey did, noting that the network "will continue to report impartially and fairly on events in Turkey." "To be detained and deported from the country where I previously lived for five years and for which I have such affection has been extremely distressing," Lowen said upon his arrival to London Thursday, Protests in several Turkish cities over Thursday, Friday and Saturday followed the arrest of opposition leader and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu during an early-morning raid Wednesday, which then led to the arrest of hundreds of protestors. The move could mean Turkey has moved away from a democratic system of government, The Guardian reported.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
BBC News' Mark Lowen Deported From Turkey
Mark Lowen, a BBC News correspondent and presenter, was deported from Turkey on Wednesday after being deemed 'a threat to public order' by the Turkish government. Lowen was in Istanbul covering one of the country's largest anti-government protests, which followed the arrest of the city's mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, last week. Turkish authorities arrested Lowen at his hotel and detained him for 17 hours prior to his deportation. 'To be detained and deported from the country where I previously lived for five years and for which I have such affection has been extremely distressing,' Lowen said in a statement. 'Press freedom and impartial reporting are fundamental to any democracy.' 'This is an extremely troubling incident, and we will be making representations to the Turkish authorities,' BBC News CEO Deborah Turness noted in her own statement. 'Mark is a very experienced correspondent with a deep knowledge of Turkey, and no journalist should face this kind of treatment simply for doing their job.' Lowen understands the Turkish political system well, having been based there from 2014 to 2019. During that time, he covered numerous stories about the country, including the ascension of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from prime minister to president.
Telegraph
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
BBC reporter deported from Turkey after covering protests
A BBC reporter has been deported from Turkey after covering protests against the arrest of a leading opposition figure. Correspondent Mark Lowen had only been in the country for several days to report on the unrest sparked by the detention of Ekrem Imamoglu on corruption charges when he was detained. Mr Imamoglu, who is seen as the main political rival of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, has denied wrongdoing. A BBC spokesman said: 'This morning [March 27] the Turkish authorities deported BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen from Istanbul, having taken him from his hotel the previous day and detained him for 17 hours.' It came after he was presented with a written notice stating he was being deported for 'being a threat to public order', the corporation added. Mr Lowen said: 'To be detained and deported from the country where I previously lived for five years, and for which I have such affection, has been extremely distressing. ' Press freedom and impartial reporting are fundamental to any democracy.' Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, said: 'This is an extremely troubling incident and we will be making representations to the Turkish authorities. 'Mark is a very experienced correspondent with a deep knowledge of Turkey and no journalist should face this kind of treatment simply for doing their job. We will continue to report impartially and fairly on events in Turkey.' Demonstrations began in Istanbul last week after Mr Imamoglu was arrested – just as voters began casting their ballots in a primary that was expected to name him as the opposition CHP party's candidate for the 2028 presidential election. The protests have spread to more than 55 of the country's 81 provinces, leading to clashes with riot police and international condemnation. Mr Imamoglu is widely considered the only politician who can defeat Mr Erdogan at the ballot box. However, in the space of four days, the 53-year-old went from being the mayor of Istanbul – the post that kick-started Mr Erdogan's political rise decades earlier – to being arrested, interrogated, jailed and stripped of his mayorship.
New York Times
27-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Turkey Deports BBC Reporter Who Covered Mass Protests
The BBC said on Thursday that Turkey had deported a correspondent who was covering the antigovernment protests in the country, after he was detained and labeled 'a threat to public order.' The broadcaster said in a statement that Mark Lowen, who had been in the country for several days, was taken from his hotel on Wednesday and held for 17 hours. He arrived in London on Thursday morning. 'No journalist should face this kind of treatment simply for doing their job,' said Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, who described the detention and deportation as 'an extremely troubling incident.' 'We will continue to report impartially and fairly on events in Turkey,' she added, and said that the BBC would reach out to the Turkish authorities. Mr. Lowen was in Turkey reporting on the political crisis sparked by the arrest last week of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's top rival, on accusations of corruption and supporting terrorism. Hundreds of thousands of Turks have protested in cities across the country since his arrest. About 170 people have been jailed pending trial, the country's interior ministry said as of Wednesday. Mr. Imamoglu, who was subsequently removed from his post as mayor and jailed pending trial on the corruption charges, said his arrest was politically motivated. Critics of Mr. Erdogan said the moves were the latest example of his increasingly authoritarian tactics after two decades in power. Mr. Lowen, a well-known correspondent who had previously lived in Turkey for five years, was not the only journalist to be caught up in the crackdown. Of the more than 1,300 people that the interior ministry has said have been arrested in connection with the protests, 11 were journalists. Seven of the detained reporters, including a photographer for the French news agency Agence France-Presse, were released without charge on Thursday. 'To be detained and deported from the country where I previously lived for five years and for which I have such affection has been extremely distressing,' Mr. Lowen said in a statement. 'Press freedom and impartial reporting are fundamental to any democracy.' Turkey did not announce the deportation and Turkish officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
