Today is World Press Freedom Day, when freedom of the press and its importance for the democratization of a society is honored, but many journalists in Turkey are observing this day either in prison or facing criminal charges among other challenges just for engaging in their profession.
Turkey ranks the 158th among 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) World Press Freedom Index published today. The RSF report lists a number of challenges such as online censorship, arbitrary lawsuits against critical media outlets, discriminatory practices and financial pressure on critical journalists and media outlets as factors leading to the erosion of media pluralism and freedom of the press in the country.
According to a census from the Expression Interrupted Platform, there are currently 32 journalists in prison in Turkey, mainly comprising Kurdish journalists and those who worked for media outlets affiliated with the Gülen movement.
The faith-based Gülen movement is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a failed coup in July 2016 and is labelled as a terrorist organization. The movement, inspired by the views of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, strongly denies the accusations.
Legal harassment of Kurdish journalists
The latest arrests targeting Kurdish journalists took place last week when Mezopotamya news agency reporters Mehmet Aslan and Esra Solin Dal and journalist Erdoğan Alayumat were arrested on charges of terrorist organization membership. They were among nine Kurdish journalists who were detained as part of an İstanbul-based investigation. Six of the journalists were released under judicial supervision.
The journalists were asked questions about their journalistic activities and social media posts during their interrogation.
It is frequent for Kurdish journalists in Turkey to experience legal harassment on terrorism-related charges for reporting on sensitive issues such as Kurdish rights.
In a joint statement on Friday, the International Press Institute (IPI), the İstanbul-based Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and 25 press freedom, freedom of expression and human rights organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), English PEN and European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) strongly condemned the recent arrest of the three Kurdish journalists, calling on Turkish authorities to uphold their commitment to press freedom and release the journalists immediately.
Their statement also called on Turkey to abide by its press law, constitution and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings and to refrain from targeting Kurdish media and allow all journalists to carry out their professional role, which is vital to a functioning democracy, without fear of intimidation.
The ECtHR has faulted Turkey on many occasions, particularly after the coup attempt, in the pretrial or arrest of journalists such as veterans Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Murat Aksoy.
Turkey arrested dozens of journalists and closed down hundreds of media outlets in the aftermath of the coup attempt under the pretext of an anti-coup fight, which many said was aimed at silencing government critics.
Zaman executive’s incarceration continues
The latest hearing of the trial of journalist Mehmet Kamış, the former deputy editor-in-chief of the now-closed Zaman newspaper in Turkey who was arrested in November, was held at an İstanbul court on Thursday during which the court decided for the continued pretrial detention of the journalist.
Kamış was arrested on November 23 following his detention in the western province of İzmir by teams from Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization and the organized crime unit of the İzmir Police Department. He was taken to İstanbul, where he had been standing trial in absentia and sent to Marmara Prison on the outskirts of İstanbul, where most of Turkey’s political prisoners are incarcerated.
Tutuklu gazeteci Mehmet Kamış’ın, “Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisini ortadan kaldırmaya veya görevini yapmasını engellemeye teşebbüs”, “Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Hükümetini ortadan kaldırmaya veya görevini yapmasını engellemeye teşebbüs”, “Anayasal düzeni ortadan kaldırmaya teşebbüs” ve… pic.twitter.com/HVOjcm3kJY
— Punto24 Dava Takip (@P24DavaTakip) May 2, 2024
The Zaman daily, which was Turkey’s best-selling newspaper, was closed down by the Turkish government following the coup attempt on July 15, 2016 due to its alleged links to the Gülen movement.
Kamış, who faces three aggravated life sentences on coup-related charges and an additional seven-and-a-half years on charges of terrorist organization membership, told the court on Thursday that he was only involved in journalistic activities at Zaman and has no links to any terrorist organizations. He said he had not surrendered to the police because he did not believe he would be given a fair trial and demanded his release.
The court, which refused to release Kamış, adjourned the trial until July 25.
Journalist given 2-year prison sentence
One of the journalists recently handed down a prison sentence due to his professional work was Barış Terkoğlu.
During the latest hearing of his trial at an İstanbul court on Thursday, Terkoğlu was given the prison sentence on charges of “targeting those assigned to the fight against terrorism” over a news report published by the Odatv news website, and a column published in the Cumhuriyet newspaper in 2020. He was accused of targeting a judge, Akın Gürlek, in both reports. Gürlek was appointed deputy justice minister in June 2022.
Terkoğlu, in his defense statement, denied the charges and said that just like other people, judges, prosecutors and police officers are also regular citizens and not immune from criticism. He said criticizing a public official due to their actions or decisions and portraying them as targets are completely different things.
Press organization calls for an end to harassment of Turkish journalists
The Frankfurt-based International Journalists Association, established by a group of Turkish journalists living in exile, released a statement on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on Friday in which it complained about the government’s harassment of journalists in Turkey and outside its borders.
The IJA said in its statement that the Turkish government’s persecution of journalists extends beyond its borders, affecting even journalists who had to flee the country such as Abdülhamit Bilici, Abdullah Bozkurt, Adem Yavuz Arslan, Bülent Keneş, Can Dündar, Cevheri Güven, Erk Acarer, Levent Kenez ve Said Sefa, who, despite finding refuge in democratic countries, still face orchestrated threats and attacks from Turkish authorities.
Some of these journalists who fled Turkey to avoid arrest in the aftermath of the coup attempt have been targeted by the pro-government Sabah daily, which revealed their addresses and published secretly taken photos of them.
Keneş, who lives in exile in Sweden, was even used as a bargaining chip by the Turkish government, which demanded his extradition from Sweden in return for Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s NATO membership.
The IJA also called for the immediate release of journalists from prison such as Mehmet Baransu, Hidayet Karaca and Gültekin Avcı, who have been behind bars for years.
The Turkish Journalists’ Association (TGC), which also released a statement on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, called on the Turkish government to release all the journalists in prison and allow the free circulation of news.
The TGC said journalists in Turkey are marking yet another World Press Freedom Day amid a wide range of challenges including unemployment, censorship, threats, physical attacks, prosecutions, unlawful detentions and arrests.