Declic, a nongovernmental organization in Romania, on Thursday ran a full-page ad in the country’s most highly circulated newspaper to show solidarity with Turkish journalist Kamil Demirkaya, whose extradition has been requested by Turkey on allegations of terrorist support.
Demirkaya was the editor-in-chief of the Zaman daily’s Bulgaria bureau and a contributor to Zaman Romania, affiliated with Turkey’s Zaman daily, which was seized by the government in March 2016 for links to the faith-based Gülen movement.
The movement is accused of terrorism and orchestrating a July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. Since then, the regime has been persecuting the real and perceived followers of the movement.
Requests for the former Zaman journalist’s extradition led to a petition in Romania last week demanding the rejection of Turkey’s request. The same NGO, Declic, today placed an ad to support his freedom. The ad asked the government in Romania not to return Demirkaya to his home country, which often sentences dissidents to life in prison.
The cost of the ad was raised by donations, according to the TR724 news website’s story from Romania.
A court in Bucharest will rule on the extradition request on Friday.