Journalist İsmail Saymaz hit with travel ban: 'I see this as intimidation'

İsmail Saymaz, who wanted to go abroad for a weekend holiday with his family, learned there that a travel ban had been issued against him.

Saymaz, whose passport was seized, shared his reaction on his social media account with the following words:

"A new act of lawlessness has been added to the character assassinations that have been going on for weeks.

While I was setting off for a weekend holiday with my wife, child, and friends, I learned that a travel ban had been imposed on me. My passport was seized.

If I were going to flee…

I would not have gone abroad and returned five times in the last 1.5 months.

I would not have returned on March 12 from Germany, where I went on March 7, knowing full well that there were investigations against me.

Whenever I was summoned to testify by the prosecutor's office, I went running. Last Thursday, I was at the Bakırköy Courthouse for three separate investigations. 

My only crime is journalism…

I have no intention of going anywhere other than Turkey.

I see these actions as intimidation against critical journalism and I reject them."

Haftalardır süren itibar suikastlerine bir de hukuksuzluk eklendi.
Eşim, çocuğum ve arkadaşlarımla haftasonu tatili için yola çıkmışken, hakkımda yurt dışına çıkış yasağı konduğunu öğrendim. Pasaportuma el kondu.
Kaçacak olsaydım…
Son 1.5 ayda beş kez yurtdışına çıkıp dönmezdim.…

— İsmail Saymaz (@ismailsaymaz) March 15, 2025

News Source: 12punto