After the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) signed its first collective agreement in 18 years with the newspaper Cumhuriyet in mid-November, the management dismissed eight journalists and union members. TGS understands this to be a discriminatory and retaliatory move against union organisation. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Turkish affiliate in the call for the journalists’ immediate reemployment. In response, on Tuesday 30 November, TGS organised a protest with journalists and press freedom advocates in front of Cumhuriyet’s headquarters in Istanbul at 11 am local time. Although Cumhuriyet put forward economic reasons for the dismissals, TGS General Secretary…