The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned a directive sent on Tuesday by Turkey’s Security General Directorate (EGM) to all police departments in the country requesting officers to prevent audio and visual recordings of protests and public demonstrations. The note circulated is seen as a clear move to prevent citizens and journalists from reporting on [...]
Register here The International Press Institute (IPI) and Columbia Global Centers | Istanbul will host a webinar on May 3, World Press Freedom Day at 16:00 (CET) on “Quality Journalism: Threats and Opportunities” with distinguished speakers. This event will focus on freedom of the press and independent media, and there will be simultaneous translation into Turkish and English during the event. Topics include: [...]
The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed concerns about continued impunity in the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink following a court ruling on March 26. On March 26, 2021, a first instance court in Istanbul handed down verdicts involving 76 defendants, mostly public officials, concerning Dink’s murder after more than 14 years. This [...]
The International Press Institute (IPI) welcomed a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling yesterday, April 13, finding that Turkey had violated the rights of Ahmet Altan, a prominent writer and journalist with the now-shuttered Taraf newspaper. Altan has been jailed for four-and-a-half years over his alleged links to the now-outlawed Gülen movement and articles [...]
On March 2, 2021, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a 128-page "Human Rights Action Plan" (İnsan Hakları Eylem Planı in Turkish) consisting of nine primary objectives and 50 goals based on 11 basic principles and 393 action points to improve the implementation and protection of human rights in Turkey. The plan is to be [...]
The International Press Institute (IPI) and 20 international human rights and freedom of expression organizations sent today a joint letter to the presidents of the European Council and European Commission to call on EU leaders to prioritize improved human rights records in Turkey ahead of their visit to the Turkish president Erdoğan on April 6. [...]
International Press Institute (IPI), today called for a court ruling in the murder case of Turkish-Armenian journalist without further delay. The ruling in the case, where several public officials are being prosecuted for involvement with the killing, must serve to help end impunity and send the right message for combatting violence against journalists. Therefore, IPI [...]
The International Press Institute (IPI) today sent a letter to the European Council President Charles Michel ahead of the European Council meeting on March 25 and 26 where EU-Turkey relations will be discussed. The letter calls on Michel and the European Council to insist on an improved human rights record in Turkey, especially in press freedom [...]
READ FULL REPORT On March 1, the International Press Institute (IPI) launched the new report “Journalism Under the Shadow of the Pandemic: Turkey” with an online event. The study, conducted by IPI Turkey National Committee member İpek Yezdani, analysed how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected independent media and journalism in Turkey based on in-depth interviews [...]
On March 9, 2021, Hazım Özsu, a local radio host for Rahmet FM (Mercy FM) in Turkey’s Bursa province was shot dead in his home by a man who later said that he disliked some of Özsu’s comments in his radio programme during the pandemic regarding religious values. The man said he wanted to “shut [...]