Turkish police have detained a Dutch reporter on terrorism charges, highlighting accusations of media persecution on the day President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that Turkish journalists enjoyed more freedom than any in Europe, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.
Frederike Geerdink, based in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, in south-east Turkey, tweeted that police had searched her home and were taking her into custody on charges related to “propaganda for a terrorist organisation”.
The Dutch foreign minister, Bert Koenders, on a visit to Ankara, said he was shocked.
A police official said Geerdink, a prolific Twitter user who reports for Dutch radio and newspapers including Het Parool in the Netherlands and the Independent in Britain, had been detained on the prosecutor’s order and would be released after giving a statement.