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…

Originally published on journo.com Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) has depicted a grim picture with a special report that was published on World Press Freedom Day. The report was authored by TGS legal and labor experts Ülkü Şahin, İlyas Coşkun and Beste Dönmez Gedik to record the press freedom violations in Turkey from April 2019 to April 2020. According to the report, which is 150-page-long with its annexes, 85 journalists are currently in Turkey’s prisons. Throughout the past year, Turkish courts ruled for a total prison sentence of 178 years in 166 legal cases against journalists. Meanwhile, 37 journalists were physically…

Amid growing concerns over the spread of COVID-19 in prisons, the Turkish government is accelerating the preparation of a draft law that will reportedly release up to 100,000 prisoners. This is a welcome step. Overcrowding and unsanitary facilities already pose a serious health threat to Turkey’s prison population of nearly 300,000 prisoners and about tens of thousands of prison staff. That will only be exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. However, we remain concerned that journalists, human rights defenders and others imprisoned for simply exercising their rights, and others who should be released, will remain behind bars in the package of…

Originally published on journo.com The Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) has organized nationwide demonstrations to protest the latest wave of arrests targeting newsroom managers and reporters of critical news outlets. The protests led by the TGS were held in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana and Diyarbakir provinces on March 10 under the title “Journalism Is Not a Crime”. 28 journalists were detained in recent days and eight were arrested citing their news reports or social media comments criticizing the government. “We call on the Justice Minister: Stop putting pressure on courts and let them judge independently. You will then see how…

The presidents of the European commission and council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, will meet on Monday evening Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over his decision to open his border to migrants travelling to Europe. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) call on European leaders to demand that Erdogan release 94 journalists imprisoned in Turkey for doing their job. Though the number of jailed journalists in Turkey declined slightly, from 110 at the beginning of 2019 to 91 by the close of the year (94 on this date), Turkey remains a highly repressive environment for journalists.…

Two columnists of the daily newspaper Yeniçağ, had their phones, Twitter and Gmail accounts hacked after writing an article about the death of Turkish soldiers in Libya. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) and their affiliate DİSK Basın İş condemn the hacking of journalists’ working tools which is a blatant attack on press freedom. On Sunday, February 23, the daily newspaper Yeniçağ announced in a statement that two of its journalists, Batuhan Çolak and Murat Ağırel, fell victim to a cyber attack after publishing an article naming two Turkish soldiers killed in Libya. On Saturday (February 22), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a statement that…

Article originally published on journo.com Google should reconsider its decision to fund a “partisan” and “manipulative” Turkish media group  through its news innovation challenge, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) has said yesterday in an open letter. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has backed the call saying that “Google should stop funding unethical media organisations that do not respect the principles of ethical journalism and the worker rights of journalists”. The Google News Initiative (GNI) announced the Demiroren Media Group as the only Turkish applicant selected to be funded through GNI Innovation Challenges, stirring an outcry among Turkey’s embattled journalists…

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.…

A pro-government newspaper based in Istanbul has blasted the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), gearing up the official narrative that labels jailed journalists as “terrorists.” “Here is the real face of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey, which flung dirt by alleging that the press cards of opposition journalists were canceled [by the government],” the Takvim daily said on its headline on January 27. Several journalists, including those that work at opposition dailies Evrensel and BirGün, had noticed last week that their pending applications for press cards renewals were rejected by the Presidency’s Communication Directorate when they checked the official body’s…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ), in partnership with their Turkish affiliates, organised last week two training workshops in Istanbul and Bursa, Turkey. The events are part of an EU-funded project promoting journalists’ rights and human rights journalism, which the organisations currently implement in Turkey. Organized on 4 December in partnership with the Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası (TGS) and Evrensel newspaper, the first workshop focused on countering fake news and fact-checking techniques. Training was delivered in the newsroom to 12 journalists by trainer Gülin Çavuş and Orhan Şener, director of the TGS Akademi. It examined various online fact-checking techniques including KnightLab,…

Turkish journalist İdris Özyol who had been beaten up in May was found unconscious in the street in Antalya on 2nd December and rushed to hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage. The EFJ and IFJ join the Progressive Journalists’ Association (CGD) and Disk Basın-İş in calling for a full investigation into the case and demanding the government act to ensure journalists’ safety. İdris Özyol, who is known for his criticism of government’s policies, writes for local daily Akdeniz’de Yeni Yüzyıl in the southern province of Antalya. On 15 May 2019, he was attacked by three assailants in front of his…

By Tim Dawson Tim Dawson is a London-based journalist, and a member of the executive of the National Union of Journalists in the UK and Ireland. He traveled to Turkey from November 27-30 2019 to observe and monitor journalists trials as well as participate in an International Conference within the framework of the “Journalism is not a crime” EU-funded project implemented by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS). Eren Keskin is possibly the most striking defendant hauled before Istanbul’s criminal courts today. Dressed in black from head to…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will start in 2020 the phase 2 of the EU-funded project “Building Trust in Media in South East Europe and Turkey” in partnership with the UNESCO. Together with its members in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Kosovo, the EFJ will organise three annual regional workshops to further develop national social dialogues and ensure the implementation of labour rights in the field of media in the region. Strong cooperation with the EFJ Labour Rights Expert Group (LAREG) will be continued to develop exchanges between journalists’ organisations from Eastern and Western…

Turkey’s biggest newspaper Hürriyet fired 45 journalists last week in one of the history’s most brutal layoffs operation press in Turkey.  Forty-three of them were members of the Turkiye Gazeteciler Sendikasi (TGS), an EFJ affiliate. The employees said that their dismissal was notified by a letter while they were working. A few journalists’  access to their computer and e-mail accounts were blocked. A woman was on maternity leave, one on compulsory military service and another journalist on sick leave, according to Turkish media reports. Vahap Munyar, Hürriyet’s editor-in-chief, who said he was not aware of the layoffs, and some of…

A Turkish court ordered on 4 November the release under supervision of journalists Ahmet Altan and Nazli Ilicak who had spent three years in jail, accused of participating in the failed 2016 coup. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) welcome their release but urge authorities to remove the judicial control, stressing they were victims of trumped up charges. Both journalists were jailed in 2016 following their conviction of “aiding a terrorist group without being its member”, charges that they always denied. On 2 October 2018, the Court of appeal in Istanbul upheld aggravated life sentences of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined seven other organisations on a joint mission to Turkey, led by the International Press Institute (IPI). Despite some glimmers of hope, press freedom in the country remains in crisis. International press freedom groups and professional organisations reported today that press freedom and the rule of law in Turkey remain in crisis despite grounds for very cautious optimism, such as yesterday’s ruling releasing several former Cumhuriyet journalists. Over three days this week, the international press freedom delegation held meetings with journalists, civil society, the judiciary and the authorities to assess planned reforms and the…