European Federation of Journalists

Turkey : Set Journalism Free

The European Instrument for Democracy and Human RightsThe Set Journalism Free in Turkey campaign is part of the Campaign to decriminalise Turkish Journalism , to free speech and protect work place rights project (2014-2016) which receives the financial support of the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) Program managed by the European Commission. All responsibilities regarding the contents and the actions belong to the authors only and should not be considered as reflecting the views of the European Union.

> EU Progress Reports on Turkey 20152014201320122011
> OSCE reports on Turkey
Regular Report to the Permanent Council by Dunja Mijatović, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, for the period from 19 June 2014 through 26 November 2014
OSCE FOM table on imprisoned journalists in Turkey – 10 March 2014
> CoE reports on Turkey
The rule of law on the Internet and in the wider digital world. Issue Paper published by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
3rd quarterly activity report 2014 by Nils Muižnieks
> Bia Media Monitoring Reports :
Media’s 3 Years: A Summary With Graphics
October-December 2014
April-June 2014
> PEN International : Free expression under shadow
> IFJ reports : 2 journalists killed in Turkey in 2014
> CPJ reports : 40 imprisoned journalists in Turkey (2013) / 20 journalists killed in Turkey since 1992
> RSF Press Freedom Index 2014 : Turkey is ranked 149 out of 180 countries (between Mexico and DRCongo)
> Human Rights Watch : Turkey: Security Bill Undermines Rights
> Freedom House / Freedom of the Press 2014 : “The region’s largest numerical change occurred in Turkey, which declined from 56 to 62 points and moved from Partly Free to Not Free.”
> Shorenstein Center (Harvard) / Corruption and Self-Censorship in
Turkish Journalism

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Turkey: 1,500 days in prison for Ahmet Altan

Turkish journalist Ahmet Altan is 70 years old. He has spent the last four years in a cell in Turkey, apart from one parenthesis – a mockery of 8 days of freedom in November 2019 – when a criminal court ordered his release. 1500 days, today, behind bars without having committed any offence, and amid reports of increased Covid-19 risk in the prison facility where he is held. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its partners, including Articolo 21 and P24, demand his immediate release. Throughout his trial, Ahmet Altan faced absurd, unfounded and ever-changing charges relating to “attempting a…

Turkey: “Journalism still resists and survives here”

This article was originally published on 5 August by Nieman Reports, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author, Emre Kizilkaya, a 2019 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow who is currently the editor of journo.com.tr. Original title: “As Erdoğan Cracks Down, Turkey’s Independent Journalists Need Digital Skills and Business Acumen” – “Turkey’s mainstream media has imploded, and it will not come back even after Erdoğan” Shooting a glance at the uncanny paraphernalia on my desk feels like watching a “Breaking Bad” teaser: A fist-sized rock near my monitor, a half-burnt tear gas canister on the rock, holding a…

2020 Annual Report: Attacks on media in Europe must not become a new normal

Launch of the 2020 Annual Report by the partner organisations to the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists Attacks on press freedom in Europe are at serious risk of becoming a new normal, 14 international press freedom groups and journalists’ organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), warn today as they launch the 2020 annual report of the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalists. The fresh assault on media freedom amid the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened an already gloomy outlook. The report analyses alerts submitted to the Platform…

97 journalists in jail in Europe: EFJ joins #FreeThePress campaign

Amid the unprecedented public health threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Russian Permanent Commission on Freedom of Information and the Rights of Journalists, joins the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to call on all world leaders to immediately and unconditionally release all journalists imprisoned for their work. On behalf of more than 250 journalists behind bars (including 97 in Europe: 85 in Turkey, 7 in Russia and 5 in Azerbaijan), we call on authorities to free these political prisoners immediately and unconditionally. For journalists…

Turkey must end public ad ban on independent newspapers

Today, the International Press Institute (IPI), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS), Reporters without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), called for an immediate end to the ban on public advertising on the two independent newspapers Evrensel and BirGün. Both newspapers are part of a shrinking club of media that have stubbornly resisted pressure to curb their independent journalism and readiness to criticize the authorities. Since September they have been subjected to indefinite bans imposed by BIK (Basin Ilan Kurumu), the agency responsible for the distribution of the state advertising budget.…

Turkish press authority cancels press cards of hundreds of journalists

The Turkish press authority cancelled press cards of hundreds of journalists, but did not give any reason for the measure. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ), along with their national affiliates, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) and DİSK Basın-Is, urge the authorities to revoke this decision and reissue immediately new press cards to their holders. The decision concerned hundreds of journalists who found out that the Directorate General of Press and Information in Prime Ministry’s Office had cancelled their press cards, when they received their press cards with a “cancelled” stamp inside the back cover.…