Italian reporter deported by Turkey after two weeks in jail

An Italian journalist has been deported from Turkey after spending two weeks in custody for his research on refugees near the Syrian border.

Gabriele Del Grande, 34, was expected to arrive at Bologna airport in Italy on Monday and be met by his parents and the Italian foreign minister, Angelino Alfano.

"I spoke to him just now and he's on his way back to Italy. I had the great joy of telling his family. We are waiting for him," Alfano said.

Del Grande was handcuffed by Turkish police on 9 April as he was interviewing people who had fled Syria, for a book he is writing on the conflict and the birth of the Islamic State group.

He began a hunger strike last week after claiming he had no access to a lawyer and had been "interrogated" on the content of his research.

Del Grande, who comes from Lucca in Tuscany, was a co-author and co-director of a documentary on Syrian and Palestinian refugees, Lo Sto Con La Sposa (On the Bride's Side), which was presented at the Venice film festival in 2014.

The Turkish government imposed a state of emergency in the wake of the failed 15 July coup attempt, which critics say has been used as a pretext to crack down on government opponents and not merely suspected coup plotters.

According to journalists' associations, about 170 media outlets have been closed and nearly 800 press cards cancelled.

Turkey has also detained or expelled foreign correspondents for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Die Welt, and the French website Les Jours.

More than 100 journalists and media contributors are in jail, said Reporters Without Borders in a December report, which said the country led a rise in journalist detentions in 2016.