Freedom of press in great danger in Turkey

Freedom of press in great danger in Turkey

The report 2011 by the International Press Freedom Mission to Turkey has been released. The report strongly demand the immediate release of arrested journalists.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) invited other international organisations- Reporters Without Borders (RSF), International Press Institute (IPI), Association of European Journalists (AEJ)- to participate in a 22-24 November 2011 press freedom mission to Turkey. The aim of the organization was to make clear to the Turkish government and politicians the view of the international organisations, as well as to show support for the immediate release of 63 Turkish journalists who appear to have been jailed because of their work.

Referring to the meetings with deputy chairpersons of four political parties at the Parliament on 23 November, the report underlined in the conclusion part that; “The mission's final conclusion is not positive, as press freedom seems to be more than ever in danger in Turkey.”

Nevertheless, no opposition party was able to explain which changes they would bring to the Turkish anti-terror law or the Turkish penal code in order to prevent the future indictment of journalists who simply do their work, noted the report.

Participating journalists and freedom of expression organisations repeated their concern and their anger over the worsening situation of press freedom in Turkey, which currently has the highest number of imprisoned journalists in Europe.

In the conclusion part, members of the mission demanded a change in legislation to drop cases opened against journalists under the umbrella of the anti-terror law and the Turkish penal code.

The mission's report will be sent to different European institutions (the European Commission, the European Parliament; the Council of Europe; and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) in order to raise awareness of the worsening of the state of press freedom in Turkey.