Campaigning for the release of Turkish cartoonist Musa Kart

Photo: front page of Turkish newspaper, Cumhuriyet

My cartoon on the cover of the Turkish national daily Cumhuriyet, in the panel where their cartoonist Musa Kart’s cartoon should be.

Photo: blank cartoon panel, following the arrest of Turkish cartoonist Musa Kart

Musa was arrested and jailed pending trial in early November, along with a number of his journalist colleagues, as part of President Erdoğan’s post-coup crackdown on critical voices in the media.

Photo of Turkish cartoonist Musa Cart, October 2016

While he remains in jail, Cumhuriyet is filling Musa’s panel with cartoons of solidarity from around the world.

Cartoon: in solidarity with jailed Turkish cartoonist Musa Kart

“At least 81 journalists are imprisoned in Turkey, all of them facing anti-state charges, in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown that has included the shuttering of more than 100 news outlets. The 259 journalists in jail worldwide is the highest number recorded since 1990.” A special report from the Committee to Protect Journalists by Elana Beiser.

Turnbull kills off Abbott’s Green Army

“The decision will be handed down in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook on December 19”

Funded by cutting Landcare, a risible fig leaf for the Coalition’s nakedness on climate policy, and underfunded as a proper employment program, there were lots of reasons to facepalm Tony’s Green Army plan. But I can’t celebrate its demise. “It is not an environmental program. It is an employment program, and a bad one at that” said Greens leader Di Natale, Shouldn’t we be trying to develop programs that are both? Sounds like it was a good experience for many participants; was there scope to improve it? A voluntary scheme for unemployed kids, working with local groups, add a little more citizen science training to the environmental remediation work, and improve the pay rates?

Cartoon: Malcolm Turnbull kills off Tony Abbott's Green Army

(The Canberra Times, 6 December 2016 | Gallery of most recent cartoons)