On 17 January 2019, the journalist Ans Boersma, Turkey correspondent for the Dutch financial paper Het Financieele Dagblad, was deported from Istanbul and sent back to Amsterdam. Ms Boersma was apprehended by Turkish police a day before following her visit to the migration office to renew her residence permit as a foreign correspondent. Just nine days before her arrest, she received her accreditation and press card from the Turkish authorities for the year 2019. Ruling out the possibility of a misunderstanding or administrative issue, the police told the journalist that  she formed a risk to Turkey’s national security without any further…

A Ukrainian organisation working on national security published thousands of personal details of journalists on its website on 7 May claiming the journalists had accreditation with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukraine. It further accused them of ‘co-operating with terrorist organisations’ and violating Ukraine law. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) support their Ukrainian affiliates the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTUU) in denouncing this leak which endangers journalists’ safety and urge the Ukrainian government to bring those responsible to justice. The private contact details published by Myrotvorets (“The Peacemaker”…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today condemned the entry ban imposed by Turkish authorities against Russian journalist Tural Kerimov, the Turkey bureau chief for Sputnik news agency, who “was stopped by a border control officer who said the journalist was flagged as persona non grata by the Turkish authorities”. Turkish authorities seized Kerimov’s press card as well as his residence permit before sending him back to Russia. Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ, EFJ affiliate) has immediately condemned Kerimov being deported from Turkey. RUJ Secretary General and EFJ Vice-President, Nadezda Azhgikhina, made the following statement: “The rights of the…