Cumhuriyet Executive Board Chair/CEO Akın Atalay delivered a lengthy, point-by-point rebuttal of the government’s accusations against his newspaper in a statement in court on July 24, 2017.

Atalay, who has been held in Turkey’s high-security Silivri Prison since November 2016, faces a possible sentence of eleven-and-a-half to 43 years in prison on charges of “helping an armed terrorist organization while not being a member” and “employment-related abuse of trust”.

Prosecutors claim that the paper’s news reports and its criticism of government policy supported terrorist groups, including the movement led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen – whom Turkey’s government blames for the July 2016 coup attempt – as well as outlawed militant Kurdish and leftist groups.

Atalay, however, argued that the case against Cumhuriyet “has two mutually complementary aims”, explaining: “The first is to take over Cumhuriyet newspaper or silence it. The second is to show the end that awaits newspapers and journalists who contemplate or entertain the idea of publishing news undesired by the political rulership and articles that will not be to its liking.”

Cumhuriyet has published an English-language translation of Atalay’s full statement, as well as the original, Turkish-language text.