Deniz Yücel, a German-Turkish journalist detained by Turkish authorities since February, accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo .an of imposing a "fear regime" on Turkish society and said he was slipping towards Turkey.
The 44-year-old journalist, a correspondent for Die Welt, made the remarks during an interview with the German newspaper die tageszeitung, which is expected to be published today.
The journalist was arrested on February 14th on charges of propaganda aimed at supporting a terrorist organization.
"Isolation is torture," Yutzel told the newspaper, adding that he remained in solitary confinement at Silivri Prison, west of Istanbul. In addition, he noted that even prison officials are afraid of making a mistake: "A regime of fear not only targets its critics, it also affects members of the repressive system."
The correspondent claimed that the head of the Turkish state himself was more afraid: "He knows what to expect if he loses power and that is why he imposes the regime of fear on society."
Yücel also said he hoped the European Court of Justice, which has appealed to Berlin, would rule on his case shortly after Turkey's November 28th deadline for submitting its positions, but was unsure. what to expect.
He added that like many of Erdogan's critics, he was disappointed that the court rejected the appeals of educators and government officials who were targeted by the wave of purges. "I know, however, that the European Court of Human Rights was set up to deal with cases of individual human rights violations, but not to prevent an entire country from slipping into fascism."
The newspaper reported that the interview was given in writing through Yutzel's lawyers.