The International Press Institute (IPI) and its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), today called for a halt to escalating rhetoric from Turkish officials targeting foreign journalists.

Hurriyet reported that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a meeting with members of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) yesterday accused a Turkish BBC reporter of being “part of a conspiracy against her own country.”

Erdogan did not mention the reporter, Selin Girit, by name, but he referred to a post last Thursday on Twitter in which the journalist reported that protestors at a rally had called for a six-month consumer boycott to express anger at Erdogan’s government.

Girit’s post led Ankara Mayor Ibrahim Melih Gokcek, also of the AKP, to launch a Twitter campaign branding her an English “agent”. The BBC said Monday that Girit received “A large number of threatening messages” following Gokcek’s campaign.

IPI Director of Communications and Public Relations Anthony Mills said: “We are deeply concerned at the reported levelling of unsupported accusations of treason against journalists who are merely doing their job. We urge the prime minister, as well as all parties to the political standoff, to stop engaging in rhetoric that could incite violence against journalists.”

Gokcek this week launched a similar Twitter campaign accusing CNN of lying after the broadcaster erroneously published a photo of Erdogan supporters with a caption identifying them as anti-government protestors.

Erdogan and his supporters have argued that a shadowy conspiracy directed by international business interests was behind protests that wracked Turkey for weeks following the brutal police treatment of demonstrators seeking to prevent the demolition of Gezi Park in central Istanbul. The prime minister has sought to link foreign media outlets to the alleged conspiracy and in recent weeks accused CNN, the BBC and Reuters of “fabricating news” about protests and “conspiring against Turkey”.