Deniz Yücel

{{short description|German-Turkish journalist and publisher (born 1973)}}

{{for|the Turkish politician and lawyer|Deniz Yücel (politician)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Deniz Yücel

| image = Deniz Yücel-4846.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Yücel in 2018

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|09|10|df=y}}

| birth_place = Flörsheim am Main, West Germany

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = German and Turkish

| other_names =

| occupation = Journalist

| known_for =

| spouse = {{marriage|Dilek Mayatürk|2017}}

}}

Deniz Yücel ({{IPA|tr|deˈniz jyˈdʒæl}}; born 10 September 1973) is a German-Turkish journalist and publisher. He has been a contributor to several German publications, most notably Die Tageszeitung and Die Welt.

In February 2017, he was imprisoned by the Turkish government, which claimed he was a spy. He was released in February 2018, and the courts ruled his incarceration to be an unlawful violation of his human rights.

Espionage accusations and imprisonment

The Turkish government repeatedly accused Yücel of espionage on behalf of Germany's federal intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst, and in support of the alleged terrorist organizations FETÖ and PKK. The government further claimed that Yücel aided these two groups in inciting violence in Turkey.{{Cite web|url=http://t24.com.tr/haber/erdogan-die-welt-muhabiri-deniz-yucel-pkknin-temsilcisi-olarak-alman-ajani-olarak-konsoloslukta-saklandi,391920|title=Erdoğan: Deniz Yücel PKK'nın temsilcisi olarak konsoloslukta saklandı |website= T24 |access-date= 19 May 2017 }} In a speech in 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that Yücel "is a spy, not a journalist".{{Cite web|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/tuerkei-erdoan-deniz-yuecel-ist-ein-deutscher-agent-1.3405109|title=Erdoğan: "Deniz Yücel ist ein deutscher Agent"|last=Germany|first=SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg|website=Sueddeutsche Zeitung|date=3 March 2017 |access-date=19 May 2017}}

On 14 February 2017, Yücel was formally indicted by a Turkish court and imprisoned for espionage.{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article162081411/Tuerkei-Korrespondent-Deniz-Yuecel-in-Polizeigewahrsam.html|title=WELT-Korrespondent Deniz Yücel in der Türkei im Polizeigewahrsam – WELT|website=DIE WELT|date=17 February 2017|access-date=2 March 2017}} His incarceration was widely criticized by journalists, politicians, and the German public.{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/deniz-yuecel-der-spiegel-und-spiegel-online-fordern-freilassung-a-1136574.html|title=SPIEGEL und SPIEGEL ONLINE: Wir fordern Freiheit für Deniz Yücel und alle in der Türkei inhaftierten Journalisten – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Politik|last=Germany|first=SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=28 February 2017|access-date=2 March 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/28/formal-arrest-of-die-welt-journalist-deniz-yucel-in-turkey-condemned-german|title='Assault on freedom of expression': Die Welt journalist's arrest in Turkey condemned|last=Shaheen|first=Kareem|date=28 February 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=2 March 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/773455/Angela-Merkel-blasts-President-Erdogan-regime-bitter-disappointing-Denis-Y-cel-arrest|title=Merkel BLASTS president Erdogan's 'bitter and disappointing' regime for journalist arrest|last=Adu|first=Aletha|date=1 March 2017|work=Express.co.uk|access-date=2 March 2017|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/german-die-welt-journalist-questioned-by-turkish-prosecutor/2017/02/27/cb994662-fcf3-11e6-9b78-824ccab94435_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227160926/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/german-die-welt-journalist-questioned-by-turkish-prosecutor/2017/02/27/cb994662-fcf3-11e6-9b78-824ccab94435_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 February 2017|title=Turkey orders German newspaper journalist jailed until trial|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2 March 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/01/angela-merkel-urged-to-ban-erdogan-over-jailed-german-journalist|title=Angela Merkel urged to ban Erdoğan over jailed German journalist|last=Oltermann|first=Philip|date=1 March 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=2 March 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/27/journalist-for-german-newspaper-arrested-in-turkey|title=Journalist for German newspaper arrested in Turkey|agency=Reuters|date=27 February 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=2 March 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|url=https://gazete.taz.de/tr/article/?article=!5388623|title=Konvoylar devam edecek: Deniz Yücel tutuklandı|access-date=2 March 2017|language=tr-TR}} Sigmar Gabriel, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, immediately summoned the Turkish ambassador to the Foreign Office to protest Yücel's sentence.{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/deniz-yuecel-protest-ohne-troeoet-angela-merkel-und-die-bundesregierung-a-1136643.html|title=Bundesregierung im Fall Yücel: Protest ohne Trööt – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Politik|last=Germany|first=SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=28 February 2017|access-date=2 March 2017}}

Yücel received strong public and political support in Germany throughout his imprisonment such as the one of Cem Özdemir or the one of the popular Twitter hashtag #FreeDeniz campaign. The German newspaper Die Welt, for which Yücel is a correspondent, offered to forward letters of support to the journalist. It also published Yücel's prison address in Turkey and suggested that letters written in Turkish could be sent directly to the journalist's prison cell.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} The Prison letter reading commission at times only let him read the letters of his mother-in-law, but not those of his wife.{{Cite web|last=Zeitung|first=Süddeutsche|title=Demonstration der Worte|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/literatur-und-politik-demonstration-der-worte-1.4351411|access-date=1 December 2020|website=Süddeutsche.de|date=March 2019 |language=de}}

On 16 February 2018, just over a year after his imprisonment began, Yücel was released.{{Cite news |last=Germany |first=Die Welt, Berlin |date=16 February 2018 |title=Deniz Yücel verlässt das Gefängnis und ist frei |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article173644774/WELT-Korrespondent-Deniz-Yuecel-verlaesst-das-Gefaengnis-und-ist-frei.html |access-date=16 February 2018 |newspaper=Die Welt}}

On 28 June 2019, the Constitutional Court of Turkey ruled that the detention of Yücel had been unlawful.{{cite news |last=Borshoff |first=Isabella |date=28 June 2019 |title=Detention of journalist Deniz Yücel was unlawful: Turkish top court |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/detention-of-journalist-deniz-yucel-was-unlawful-turkish-top-court/ |accessdate=29 June 2019 |website=politico.eu}}

On 25 January 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Turkey had violated Deniz Yücel's human rights. The court ruled that Yücel's pre-trial detention violated his rights in three cases, including his right to liberty and security, right to compensation for unlawful detention, as well as freedom of expression.{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/deniz-y%C3%BCcel-european-court-rules-turkey-violated-journalists-human-rights/a-60543962|title=Deniz Yücel: European court rules Turkey violated journalist's human rights|accessdate=25 January 2022|website=Deutsche Welle}}

Works

Taksim ist überall. Die Gezi-Bewegung und die Zukunft der Türkei. 2014, {{ISBN|978-3-89401-791-0}}.
Und morgen die ganze Türkei. Der lange Aufstieg des Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in: Kursbuch 188, 27 November 2016 (excerpts [https://www.faz.net/-gqz-8v5q1 here]).
Wir sind ja nicht zum Spaß hier. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 2018, {{ISBN|978-3-96054-073-1}}
Agentterrorist. Eine Geschichte über Freiheit und Freundschaft, Demokratie und Nichtsodemokratie. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2019, {{ISBN|978-3-462-05278-7}}