Morning raid on Cumhuriyet's moto courier: Arrested

Father of three, Yavuz Yakışkan (45), our transport employee who has served our paper for many years, was arrested in the course of a raid made at his home at about five o’clock this morning. Yakışkan was taken to Istanbul Police Headquarters at Vatan Street. Our paper’s lawyers have not been informed of the charges against Yakışkan. The prosecutor conducting the investigation has announced that a confidentiality order will be passed over the file. It has been learnt that the investigation is being conducted by Republic Prosecutor Yasemin Baba, who drafted the indictment against our paper’s detained managers and columnists. One of our paper’s lawyers, Abbas Yalçın, said, ‘They are not saying what Yavuz Yakışkan is charged with. There are accusations about things like a terrorist organisation and money transfers. The prosecutor does not know what Yakışkan is accused of. There is an arrest procedure in the absence of a charge. The prosecutor says that a confidentiality order over the file will be obtained.’

Pro-regime press in the know again

With our paper’s lawyers provided with no information, certain allegations over the investigation file have appeared in pro-regime Sabah newspaper. According to the report made in Sabah, Yakışkan has been arrested as a Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organisation suspect. The report contains the comment, ‘Newspaper employee Yavuz Y., said to have been used as the courier in certain suspicious money transfers by newspaper managers and columnists, has been arrested.’ Yalçın Yakışkan, noting that his brother has worked at Cumhuriyet since 2009, said, ‘How would you feel if this happened to you one morning? Of course, we were astonished. It is perfectly clear what work we do. Deliveries, papers, bringing and fetching. We have no involvement with anything else. I work as a courier, too. This is an investigation. The state can ask about certain things. We aren’t afraid; we’re above board. We have no illegitimate business. I think they will ask and investigate and then release him.’