The American ambassador to Turkey has voiced concerns about the state of press freedom in Turkey in the wake of recent arrests of journalists, Turkish media reported Wednesday.
"Journalists are being detained on the one hand while addresses about freedom of the speech are given on the other. We do not understand this," Francis Ricciardone said at a reception Tuesday evening, according to Turkish daily Hurriyet.
Ricciardone's comments came a day after police searched the offices of the opposition website Oda TV and detained four journalists working there over alleged links to the Ergenekon investigation, DPA reported.
Ergenekon is the name of an alleged network accused of involvement in a coup plot against the government. Nearly 300 people, including numerous journalists, academics and politicians, have been arrested in connection with the Ergenekon investigation and trial, which have been ongoing since 2008.
Critics of the government have accused it of using the Ergenekon trial as a way of getting rid of its opponents. Some people have been detained in connection with the case for months or more without specific charges being filed against them.
The Oda TV news portal is known to be fiercely critical of the AK Party government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The four journalists, whose homes were also searched by police, were detained just hours after the website posted a video claiming that police had planted some of the evidence in the Ergenekon investigation.
Ambassador Ricciardone made no specific comments about the Oda TV arrests but said, "We are following the process closely. Freedom of the press and freedom of speech are vital for Turkey, the United States and the people of this region."
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