Germany Warns Turkey’s Exiled Media of Apparent Hit List

WASHINGTON - Celal Baslangic was at his Cologne home on July 16 when two German police officers knocked on his door and warned the veteran Turkish journalist that his name was on an apparent “hit list” of those allegedly to be targeted for violence.  Dün gece evimin bahçesine üzerinde ‘Sen bekle’ yazısı sardıkları pişmiş bir yumurta attılar.Sabah saatlerinde bilgiyi polis verdi. Başıma gelecek herhangi bir yeni olaydan AKP-MHP iktidarı, çeteleri ile tedbirler konusunda atıl kaldığını düşündüğüm Alman Hükümeti sorumlu olacak. pic.twitter.com/sjnVLNrqER

The police provided Baslangic with contact details for an officer overseeing an investigation into a list of about 50 outspoken critics of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, some of whom live in Germany.   Rumors of such a list already were circulating among the exile community. But as police investigate the veracity of the list, attention has turned to whether Ankara has the ability to reach dissidents who have left the country to avoid persecution.   Journalists named on the list and experts say nationalist groups with links to violent crimes operate in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, and that exiles who fled persecution in Turkey no longer feel safe.