MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to ARD, Schwenck was detained by the Turkish authorities following his arrival to the Istanbul airport for unknown reasons.
"End station Istanbul. Denied entry to Turkey. My name was blackmarked. [I] am a journalist. Problem?" Schwenck posted to Twitter.
Endstation Istanbul. Einreise in Türkei verweigert. Es sei ein Vermerk an meinem Namen. Bin Journalist. Ein Problem? pic.twitter.com/wA7er0fJHn
— Volker Schwenck (@VSchwenck) 19 апреля 2016 г.
The journalist was due to travel to the Turkish-Syrian border to meet with refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict, the broadcaster reported.
Turkey's crackdown on journalists and restrictions on freedom of speech has been repeatedly criticized by the international community, including the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, Russia and the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) organization. Turkey ranks 149th out of 180 countries in the RSF 2015 press freedom index.
