The EFJ is closely following the proceedings that started on Monday 24 July in Istanbul against 17 prominent journalists, editors and board members of Cumhuriyet newspaper, including Can Dündar, Kadri Gürsel, Murat Sabuncu and Ahmet Şık. EFJ president Mogens Blicher Bjerregård participated in the court case on 24-25 July and met several journalists and EFJ affiliates. Below a personal account of his impressions: Press freedom must be protected, and not put on trial as it has happened this week in Istanbul with the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet. 17 journalists and executives are accused in a completely political and fabricated way for…

The president of the European Federation of Journalists Mogens Blicher Bjerregård is attending today in Istanbul the opening of the trial of 17 journalists and executives at Turkish opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet.  “Journalism is not a crime,” chanted several hundred people gathered outside the central Istanbul court to protest against the prosecution of journalists, executives and lawyers of Cumhuriyet. “You can really feel the solidarity present in the courtroom,” said Mogens Blicher Bjerregård. “Let’s hope for justice.” On the behalf of the international support group attending the trial, Steven M. Ellis, from the International Press Institute, delivered the following statement, in front…

Representatives from international free expression groups and professional organisations gathered in Istanbul on July 24 to monitor the trial of 17 journalists and executives from the newspaper Cumhuriyet on accusations that its reporting lent support to terrorists. Prosecutors are demanding prison terms of up to 43 years for the defendants on charges that include “helping an armed terrorist organization while not being a member” and “employment-related abuse of trust”. They argue that the newspaper has acted since 2013 as “defender and protector” of the movement led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen – whom Turkey’s government blames for the failed July 2016…

The trial involving 17 journalists and executives of Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet will start on Monday 24 July at 9:00am in Istanbul’s Çağlayan Justice Palace. The trial is expected to continue until Thursday 28 July. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) join their affiliates TGS and DISK Basin-Is  in condemning the trial which is based on unfounded accusations that the paper is secretly supporting the PKK – a militant Kurdish organisation and FETO, the group allegedly responsible for last year’s failed coup. EFJ president Mogens Blicher Bjerregård will be present at the trial on behalf of both…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the resolution of the European Parliament calling for the immediate release of arrested journalists in Turkey. The European Parliament called on Thursday for Turkey’s European Union accession talks to be suspended if Ankara fully implements plans to expand President Erdogan‘s powers. The resolution passed by parliament in Strasbourg (477 in favour, 64 against and 97 abstentions) “calls on the Commission and the member states… to formally suspend the accession negotiations with Turkey without delay if the constitutional reform package is implemented unchanged.” The European Parliament reminds its previous resolution on the situation of journalists…

Following the specific request of the delegates at the Annual Meeting held in Bucharest on 18-19 May 2017 asking for a strong position of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Steering Committee issued the following statement regarding the situation of media freedom in Turkey : The EFJ, fighting in cooperation with the IFJ and all its affiliates, welcomes the “send a postcard to jailed journalists in Turkey campaign” in the framework of its #JournalismisNOTacrime / #Gazeteciliksuçdegildir project inviting everyone to send written moral support to journalists and media workers in jail. 165 journalists are still in jail according to…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) yesterday sent an observer to Istanbul to monitor the first trial against journalists accused of participating in the 15 failed coup of last July. The trial, which may shed light on how the courts will approach numerous cases concerning the right to freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial under the state of emergency, has amplified international concerns over press freedom in Turkey. Raffaele Lorusso, General Secretary of the affiliate Federazione Nazionale della Stampa Italiana (FNSI) and an IFJ Executive Committee member, yesterday attended the trial of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikasi (TGS) have printed postcard with the names of the 158 journalists and media workers currently jailed in Turkey forming the letter G for #Gazeteciliksuçdegildir or #Journalismisnotacrime and they invite you to send a moral support to all the journalists and media workers in jail. How to do it? Get in touch with the union or professional association in your country and ask them to send you the specific postcard or simply print a PDF version available here. You can also use the PSD files…

UPDATE : Mathias Depardon has been released and deported from Turkey on 9 June 2017 after 32 days of captivity. The gathering in Brussels on Monday 12 at 5 pm (Place Luxembourg) is maintained for asking the release of all journalists in jail.   — A joint call for French freelance photographer Mathias Depardon’s release by the Turkish authorities had been made by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), two other press freedom groups and 19 news organizations for which he has worked. Depardon, 37, has been detained arbitrarily for the past eleven days in Turkey. EFJ and the 21 organizations…

last update : February 2019

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) are strongly concerned about the judicial harassment in Turkey against journalists and media workers detained for allegedly “being member” or “doing propaganda on behalf of an illegal organisation”. The EFJ-IFJ has received a detailed report about the critical situation of the young (27) female Turkish journalist and law student Aysenur Parildak, arrested for more than 9 months, released by court on 2nd of May 2017 and immediately re-arrested the same day with new charges related to the same facts (being correspondent for Zaman newspaper). Similarly mid-April 2017, 12 journalists (Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Yakup Çetin, Bünyamin Köseli, Cihan…

The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) organised on 2nd of May 2017 a workshop for TGS trade unionists (Journalists Union of Turkey) in Istanbul with Tim Dawson (NUJ President) as the trainer. In the training, the NUJ example in the UK was discussed and TGS branch and national leaders debated various issues including collective bargaining, signing recognition agreements, recruiting members accross all sectors, the impact of social media, producing stress surveys, distributing flyers, proposing legal services and planning activities in the country. Have a look to the video report (activate subtitles in English by pressing on CC) about…

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has today (25/04/2017) voted to re-open the monitoring procedure on the functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey. The re-opened exceptional procedure was closed in 2004. The adopted resolution notes that “with respect to freedom of the media and of expression, the Assembly is alarmed by the repeated violations of freedom of the media, the large number of journalists currently detained and the pressure exerted on critical journalists, which is unacceptable in a democratic society. Council of Europe member States have a positive obligation to ensure freedom of expression, protection of journalists and…

Ms Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Mr Donald Tusk, President of the European Council cc: Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union and EU ambassadors to Turkey 20 April 2016 Object: Extension of Turkey’s state of emergency in a context of grave human rights violations Dear HR/VP Federica Mogherini, Dear President Donald Tusk, EuroMed Rights, European Federation of Journalists, Front Line Defenders, Index on Censorship and World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) are deeply concerned by the Turkish government’s decision to extend the state of emergency…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in cooperation with EBU (European Broadcasting Union) would like to invite you on Wednesday 26 April 2017 to the screening of the documentary “Erdogan ou l’ivresse du pouvoir”. It will be followed by a debate: 17:45 – Welcoming: Jean-Paul Philippot, President EBU-UER 18:00 – Screening of the documentary (In French, with English subtitles) 19:00-20:00 – Discussion with : Gilles Cayatte,  journalist and co-author Guillaume Perrier,  journalist and co-author Rebecca Harms, Member of the European Parliament (Greens) Moderation : Mehmet Koksal, EFJ-FEJ 20:30 – drinks & snacks offered to participants Venue: Press Club Brussels Europe 95,…

The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) welcome the acquittal of all defendants in the Oda TV case, including Ahmet Şık and 11 other journalists, charged with terrorism, incitement, and obtaining secret documents. On 12 April 2017, after a six-year trial, the Istanbul’s 18th Court for Serious Crimes found that prosecutors had failed to provide enough evidence to convict journalists Ahmet Şık, Soner Yalçın, Barış Pehlivan, Barış Terkoğlu, Ayhan Bozkurt, Nedim Şener, Müyesser Yıldız, Doğan Yurdakul, Coşkun Musluk, Sait Çakır, Yalçın Küçük, İklim Bayraktar and former police chief Hanefi Avcı. Following the acquittal, Ahmet Şık – who is currently…