Gungor Arslan had reportedly been investigating local government corruption in a town in northwest Turkey before he was fatally shot
Gungor Arslan had been investigating local corruption, according to Reporters Without Borders (AFP/File photo)
https://www.middleeasteye.net-By MEE and agencies
A journalist was shot and killed outside the offices of his newspaper in northwest Turkey on Saturday, police and local media reported.
Gungor Arslan, the director and chief editor of the local daily Ses Kocaeli (The Voice of Kocaeli) was shot and seriously wounded, dying in the city hospital soon after.
Local police said they had arrested a suspect but did not identify him or give any details of the attack.
‘A lot of people regarded him as courageous for investigating corruption’
– Erol Onderoglu, Reporters Without Borders
Erol Onderoglu, the Turkish representative of Paris-based media rights group Reporters without Borders (RSF) told AFP that Arslan had been investigating corruption in the city.
Condemning the killing, he called for those responsible to be identified and punished to the full extent of the law.
In the last two editions of Ses Kocaeli, Arslan had accused the mayor of the city – a member of the ruling AKP party – of awarding contracts to groups close to the party.
Arslan had already been the target of an attack and had also been placed under investigation for previous articles.
“A lot of people regarded him as courageous for investigating corruption,” Onderoglu told AFP.
Turkey ranks a lowly 153 on RSF’s latest worldwide Freedom of the Press Index.