US Congress members urge Kerry to press Turkey on media freedom

A number of members of the US Congress have signed a joint letter urging the Secretary of State John Kerry to press the Turkish government to stop intimidating journalists and media in the country. In a letter to Kerry (Signatures and Letter), 89 members of Congress said that the Turkish government poses a threat to democracy because it “intimidates, arrests and smothers voices opposed to the governments”. Stressing that Turkey is a strategic ally to the US in the Middle East and a key member of NATO, congress members expressed hope to see the Turkish government “abandon this course of intimidation and…