January 8
Metin Goktepe, Evrensel, KILLED
Goktepe, a reporter for the left-wing daily Evrensel, was found beaten to death near a gymnasium in Istanbul. Earlier that same day Goktepe was covering a funeral for two leftist inmates killed during a prison riot. He had been stopped by police and taken to a nearby Istanbul gymnasium, where 1,053 mourners from the service were being detained. In the presence of hundreds of detainees, police officers ordered Goktepe to lie face down on the floor and began kicking him and beating him with their batons and fists. After losing consciousness, Goktepe was dragged out of the gym and left to die on a bench outside. An autopsy determined the cause of death was a brain hemorrhage brought on by severe blows to the head. In a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, CPJ urged the government to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into the matter. Evrensel blames police for Goktepe's murder, but the police have denied responsibility. Although no one was formally arrested, 11 policemen are charged with Goktepe's murder. Their trial began in October, and, if convicted, they each face up to 16-and-a-half years in prison.

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July 6
Kutlu Adali, Yeni Duzen, KILLED
Adali, a political columnist with the leftist daily newspaper Yeni Duzen, was shot and killed near his home in Lefkosa, the Turkish sector of Nicosia in north Cyprus. The Turkish Revenge Brigade, a little-known, extreme right-wing group, claimed responsibility for the murder. The Turkish Revenge Brigade first came to public attention several months ago when it circulated pamphlets in Northern Cyprus warning that it would punish those who oppose the cause of the Turks in Cyprus. Yeni Duzen is an organ of the leftist Republican Turkish Party (CTP). Adali was an outspoken critic of policies of the Northern Cypriot government and had criticized many politicians in his newspaper column. He was known as an advocate of peaceful cooperation with the Greek-dominated state of Cyprus. CPJ wrote to the Northern Cypriot authorities and urged them to conduct a thorough investigation into Adali's murder.

For more information contact mideastweb@cpj.org