Turkey to deport French journalist detained in southeast

ISTANBUL – Turkey’s state-run news agency says authorities will deport a French journalist who was detained while conducting an interview in the southeast near the border with Syria.

Anadolu Agency says 52-year-old Olivier Bertrand was detained Friday in Gaziantep for working without accreditation and for news stories in support of suspects under investigation for involvement in July’s failed coup.

Authorities also noted his posting on social media about author Asli Erdogan, arrested on charges of membership in a terrorist organization, having been in prison for 82 days alongside 34,000 other people.

Transferred to a repatriation centre in the northwestern city of Kocaeli, Bertrand will be deported to France on Sunday evening.

Dozens of journalists have been detained and hundreds of media outlets shut down as part of the post-coup clamp down.

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