23 July 2021 The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and undersigned partner organisations are concerned about and condemn recent statements by Turkish President Erdoğan and other government officials pertaining to the introduction of new regulation of so-called fake news and “foreign-funded” news in the country. Officials’ targeting several critical and independent media outlets for securing [...]
The International Press Institute (IPI) condemned the Turkish police violence against journalists covering the protests yesterday, July 20, in Istanbul and İzmir, and called for an immediate end to the use of excessive force. According to local reports, at least 20 reporters and photojournalists were beaten by the police and injured by rubber bullets. Local [...]
The Personal Data Protection Authority (abbrev. in Turkish: KVKK) published its reasoning on July 7 on a complaint brought by the Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun against independent newspaper Cumhuriyet following articles which reported on an illegal construction on a property he rented. IPI welcomed the decision and said it represented a milestone for the [...]
The IPI global network today warned that the most recent appointments to the executive board of Turkey’s state-run Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) by President Erdoğan risk a further loss of impartiality and push the public broadcaster to become an absolute state-propaganda outlet. On July 14, 2021, TRT’s entire executive board was replaced by a [...]
On July 7, 2021, Turkish journalist Erk Acarer, who is living in Germany, was attacked and beaten by three assailants armed with knives who broke into his residence in the evening. Acarer, who works for BirGün, Artı TV and German outlet Taz.de, received medical treatment in hospital. He later wrote on his social media accounts [...]
The International Press Institute (IPI) condemned today the police violence against Agence France-Presse (AFP) photojournalist Bülent Kılıç while he was covering the Pride March in Istanbul on June 26. Kılıç, who is an award-winner photojournalist in Turkey, posted on social media that police officers had pressed their knees into his back and throat, leaving him unable [...]
The International Press Institute (IPI) called today on Turkish authorities to dismiss all charges against local journalist Ozan Kaplanoğlu who was sentenced earlier this month to almost two years in prison for reporting on a press release. Kaplanoğlu, the editor-in-chief of the online news site BursaMuhalif.com and a board member of the Bursa Association of [...]
Today, the International Press Institute (IPI) with 15 other human rights and freedom of expression organizations published a joint letter to Charles Michel, President of the European Council and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, to ensure that improvement in fundamental rights and the rule of law are at the heart of [...]
On June 16, the International Press Institute (IPI) and 17 international rights groups on freedom of the press and expression sent open letters to the Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül and political parties to urge Turkish authorities to take all necessary steps to initiate an investigation into new allegations regarding the unsolved murders of the [...]
The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned recent threats and cyber attacks against two Northern Cyprus newspapers following their reporting on a local businessman’s alleged links to drug trafficking and called on local authorities to ensure the safety of journalists. Editors Pınar Barut of Özgür Gazete and Nuri Sılay of Gazedda Kıbrıs told IPI that [...]