Ep. 20 The ‘Turkey Purge’ w/ Mahir Zeynalov

If you care about free expression, you should care about what’s happening in Turkey.

Since a failed July 15, 2016coup attempt against Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish government has intensified the use of emergency decrees and laws against terrorist propaganda and insulting the president to purge perceived dissenters within civil society.

On today’s episode, we are joined by journalist Mahir Zeynalov. Mahir writes for “The Huffington Post” and “Al Arabiya,” and was deported from Turkey in 2014for criticism of the government. He faces arrest if he ever returns.

During the show, we speak with Zeynalov about the mind-boggling number of journalists, academics, and civil servants purged from Turkish civil society, what the international community can do to help, and the confusing populist support that Erdogan has within Turkey.

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