The International Press Institute (IPI) along with 20 other press freedom and freedom of expression organizations sent today a joint letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling for justice following the recent physical attacks against two journalists. On May 10, journalist Yavuz Selim Demirağ, a regular contributor for the newspaper Yeniçağ, was attacked outside his home [...]
By EMRE KIZILKAYA / New network aims to empower Turkey’s journalism graduates
On the eve of World Press Freedom Day 2019, Turkey’s Constitutional Court took the staggering decision to rule, after over two years, that the arbitrary arrest and detention of four former journalists with the secular newspaper Cumhuriyet did not violate their rights to liberty and free expression. After a session on May 2, the Court [...]
With 139 journalists in prison, many more being tried on charges ranging from terrorism to aiding terrorist organizations and some 121 media organizations shut down since July 2016, press freedom in Turkey has been severely undermined by the government. Despite these challenges that are many independent journalists in the country trying to uphold press freedom. [...]
On May 3, the World Press Freedom Day, the International Press Institute (IPI) Board member and Turkish National Committee Chair Kadri Gürsel marked the day with a solidarity message with his co-defendants in the Cumhuriyet trial, which was finalized in April 2018, handing ruthless jail terms to 14 journalist and executives of independent daily Cumhuriyet. [...]
International observers from the International Press Institute (IPI) and the European Parliament today observed the trial of TV10 journalist Kemal Demir and cameraman Kemal Karagöz at Istanbul’s 28th High Criminal Court in Turkey. TV10, a channel airing Alevi cultural and social programming, was shuttered by emergency decree in October 2016. Demir and Karagöz are accused [...]
The International Press Institute (IPI) together with human rights organizations: ARTICLE 19, ARTICOLO 21, Initiative for Freedom of Expression, Norwegian PEN, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, PEN International and P24 strongly condemn the ban as part of the Turkish government’s relentless campaign to silence independent media and restrict internet freedoms in the country. We [...]
Eight defendants in the trial against Turkey’s secular Cumhuriyet newspaper face an imminent return to prison after an appeals confirmation of their jail sentences was officially communicated to Turkey’s National Judicial Informatics System. “After spending months in pre-trial detention and after being convicted in what was essentially a show trial, eight of the defendants in [...]
By MURAT SEVİNÇ / Press trials not as a purely judicial matter, but as part of an integral political problem
On April 15, 2019, the expected final hearing in a terrorism propaganda case against Turkish journalist and International Press Institute (IPI) member Erol Önderoğlu as well as Turkey’s Human Rights Foundation Chair Şebnem Korur Fincancı and journalist Ahmet Nesin will take place in Istanbul. The three defendants are charged in relation to their acting as [...]