Turkish journalists freed from prison

Two Turkish journalists charged with revealing state secrets have been freed from prison, international media report.

Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, from the newspaper Cumhuriyet, were detained in November over a report alleging that the Turkish government tried to ship arms to Islamist groups in Syria, but Turkey's constitutional court has challenged the charges, saying the country had violated freedom of the press.

In their report the men claimed to show proof that a consignment of weapons seized at the border in January 2014 was bound for Syria.

They were subsequently formally charged with obtaining and revealing state secrets "for espionage purposes" and seeking to "violently" overthrow the Turkish government as well as aiding an "armed terrorist organisation".

The men were released early on Friday after three months in jail, to large crowds chanting in support just outside prison, the BBC reports.

Dundar is the paper's editor-in-chief, and Gul, is the paper’s Ankara bureau chief. The men were due to go on trial on 25 March.

The BBC reports that, pointing to the prison, Dundar said he would continue to fight for press freedom "until this concentration camp that you see behind me becomes a museum", and that although they had been released, over 30 colleagues were still in prison.

Local media reports said that the decision was overwhelmingly approved with 12 votes for and three against.

They add that the court ruled on Thursday that their "rights to personal liberty and security had been violated" and that "their freedom of expression and freedom of press" had also been violated.

The BBC reports that Turkey ranks 149th among the 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index 2015, with over 30 journalists being reported imprisoned at the moment.