One of the largest publishing companies of Europe, Axel Springer, announced its decision to sell its shares in Doğan Media Holding and leave Turkey due to the violation of media freedoms in the country.
According to a report on Bloomberg HT on Thursday, the CEO of Axel Springer, Mathias Doepfner, cited “worrying developments in Turkey and the violation of media freedoms” as the basis for the company’s decision to leave the Turkish market. The company will sell its remaining shares in Doğan Media Holding by 2022.
Turkey is one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, with 133 journalists officially behind bars excluding TRT employees, according to Platform 24.