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The United States has urged Turkey that it expects the release of journalists who are being held arbitrarily under the emergency rule with regards to the ongoing trials of 17 executives and journalists of the daily Cumhuriyet, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

“We continue to urge the government of Turkey to respect and ensure freedom of expression, fair trial guarantees, judicial independence, other human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to also release the journalists and others who we believe are being held arbitrarily under the government’s state of emergency,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters at a daily press briefing July 27, as quoted by the source.

Nauert’s remarks came when asked about the ongoing trials of 17 executives and journalists from Cumhuriyet. Twelve out of 17 journalists have been behind bars since November 2016.