Russia Curbs Freedom of Press Ahead of Olympics
Russia denies entry to Turkish journalist ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, a city that holds tragic memories of war and deportation for Circassians, who refer to their events as "genocide."
“Come along,” said the Russian customs officer at Sochi International Airport. Elbowing my way through passengers in passport and ticket lines, I was taken down the snaking stairs to the ground floor and put on the bus at the gate.
“My passport?” I asked.
“You’ll get it on board,” he said.
The pilot announced my name and handed me the passport only after the doors of the plane were shut. It may be a routine deportation procedure, but all this treatment buzzed one thing in my ears: “You are undesirable.”
