After roughly five months of negotiations, BBC journalists in Turkey are on strike today. The walkout comes after the British broadcaster refused to propose a reasonable offer to the Turkish Union of Journalists (TGS) over a pay rise that keeps up with the country’s inflation rate, better access to health care, and other key issues. Their walkout is backed by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland, UNI Global Union and UK media union BECTU. With the inflation rate as high as nearly 36 per cent according to the BBC,…

Today, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) has reached a union victory in the Hürriyet newspaper case, where 45 journalists were dismissed in 2019 for being members of the TGS. The employer will have to pay for union compensation as well as idle time compensation. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) joined its Turkish affiliate in welcoming the court decision. On 30 October 2019, 45 media staff members received dismissal notices from the management of Hürriyet, one of the major Turkish daily newspapers. This followed the pro-government conglomerate Demirören Group’s purchase…

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…

The Turkish Association of Journalists (GCD) published its Quarterly Media Monitoring Report documenting the state of press freedom in Turkey for the months of April to June 2021.  A number of topics are addressed in the report including rights violations for media workers in the country, the situation of media workers, press card regulations, disinformation, the impact of social media on journalistic works, new initiatives and advocacy work.  According to the report, polarisation of the media in Turkey escalated strongly in the second quarter of 2021, with issues of “rights violations, targeting, violence, arrests, imprisonments, restraints, threats, investigations, self-censorship, fines…

Originally published on journo.com Turkey’s Journalists’ Union (TGS) has hanged a decision to strike at the Istanbul office of Agence France-Presse (AFP), a global news agency. The three-month talks for a collective labor agreement between TGS and AFP ended with no deal this week, the union said in a statement on Sept. 10, declaring that “the employer’s representatives turned a deaf ear to the demands of AFP employees and came to the table with almost ridiculous offers.” The main disagreement between negotiating parties was the rate of wage raise. The employer’s representatives offered an 11% raise —a figure that the unionized…

The Turkish government’s continuous crackdown on press freedom in Turkey is highly disturbing. Just in the last week, amidst tremendous wildfires raging across Turkey, journalists critical of the government were denied access to press briefings, media outlets received fines for their reporting on the wildfires and a TV crew was attacked during a live broadcast. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on the Turkish government to finally stop actively hindering and imprisoning media workers in their profession. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been facing increasing criticism over the apparent poor response…

A team of the Turkish TV channel Halk TV was attacked in the İçmeler area of Marmaris. The aggressors threatened to block the channel’s live broadcast from the fire-hit region and a cameraman was targeted with a broken glass bottle. This incident occurred after a recent threat by the government-controlled RTÜK (Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council) to TV stations over their critical coverage of the wildfires, which have been raging across the country for the past few days. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Turkish affiliates, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), the Journalists’ Association of Turkey (TGC), the Journalists’ Association (GCD) and the Broadcast and Printing…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins ARTICLE 19, IPI, CPJ and 12 other human rights organisations calling on the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission to ensure that the positive agenda proposed by the EU prioritises concrete and measurable improvements in Turkey’s domestic human rights record ahead of the European Council Summit Meeting. His Excellency Mr. Charles Michel President of the European Council Her Excellency Ms. Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission 23.06.2021 Your Excellencies, In advance of the forthcoming European Council Summit Meeting of 24 – 25 June, we, the undersigned press…

To mark World Press Freedom Day 2021, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) launched a new campaign that attracted a lot of attention and published the TGS Press Freedom report on the precarious situation of Turkish journalists. The TGS mass campaign, entitled #BasınBelada, could be translated to #PressinTrouble and is a play on the lyrics of a popular song by artist Ahmet Kaya, named “Başım Belada” (“I am in trouble”). Next to the #BasınBelada campaign running on social media and newspaper ads, dozens of Turkish journalists shared the visuals and over 200 billboards can be spotted in Istanbul, Izmir, Diyarbakir,…

In the afternoon on 8 March, journalist Levent Gültekin was attacked by a group of around 20 people just metres away from his workplace at the Halk TV station in Bakırköy, Istanbul. The European Federation of Journalists and its Turkish affiliates, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), the Journalists’ Association of Turkey (TGC), the Journalists’ Association (GCD) and the Broadcast and Printing Press Workers Union, strongly condemn this brutal aggression and call for thorough investigations. The roots of such attacks, namely hatred-stirring, politically motivated online threats and insults, must also be addressed. The attack took place when Gültekin was on his way to the station as…

The Turkish Association of Journalists (GCD) published today its Annual Media Monitoring Report documenting the state of press freedom in Turkey for the year 2020. The report addresses a number of topics such as the impact of the COVID-19, disinformation, the new internet regulation, the situation of imprisoned journalists and journalists currently on trial. According to the Media Monitoring Report, the pandemic of the century and legal developments throughout the year deepened the deadlock media in Turkey faces. The working conditions and freedom to report for journalists and media workers were already very difficult. According to the professional evaluation survey,…

In these first 15 days of 2021, the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS) already recorded five physical attacks against journalists in Turkey. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) together with their affiliate in Turkey, condemn the assaults and call on Turkish authorities to conduct thorough investigations and hold the perpetrators accountable. In a tweet, the Turkish Journalists Union strongly condemned the attacks and denounced the government’s absence of reaction: “Five journalists and media workers have been attacked in 15 days. There are no government convictions and no sanctions by the judiciary. This is intended…

Can Dündar, the former editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet was sentenced to over 27 years in prison on 23 December 2020. The charges against him are espionage and terrorism. Dündar, who is living in German exile since 2016, was tried in absentia. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined international human rights and press freedom groups to condemn the politically motivated verdict. A court in Istanbul reportedly sentenced Dundar to 18 years and nine months for “obtaining state secrets for the purpose of political or military espionage” and to eight years and nine months…

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’s press freedom crisis is worsening amid growing state capture of media, the lack of independence of regulatory institutions, and a new social media law designed to clamp down on the remaining spaces for free comment, a coalition of 11 international press freedom, journalism and human rights groups, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), warned following a four-day mission to the country last week. They also flagged the continued jailing and prosecution of journalists as well as ongoing concerns over the safety of journalists and judicial independence. The coalition held hybrid online/offline meetings last week in Istanbul and Ankara…

Police detained four journalists in eastern Turkey on 6 October and raided their homes and offices following their reporting on allegations of Turkish security forces torturing two Kurdish villagers and throwing them from a helicopter. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) call for an immediate release of the journalists. Police detained reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur, who work for Mezopotamya Agency (MA), and Şehriban Abi and Nazan Sala, working for Jin News, in the province of Van, located in eastern Turkey, on the morning of 6 October. The premises of MA and Jin News and the…