The Executive Board of the International Press Institute (IPI) on Saturday unanimously voted in favour of a resolution honouring Turkish journalist and Board member Ferai Tinç.

The resolution recognized Tinç’s long-running service to IPI and her receipt this summer of the Turkish Journalists’ Association (TGC)’s 2012 Press Freedom Award in recognition of her work defending media freedom and journalists in Turkey.

The full text of the resolution appears below.

The Executive Board of the International Press Institute (IPI), at its meeting held in Vienna, Austria on Oct. 6, 2012, agreed by unanimous vote to adopt the following resolution:

Resolution Honouring IPI Executive Board Member Ferai Tinç

WHEREAS, Turkish journalist and IPI Executive Board Member Ferai Tinç has had a long and distinguished career in journalism;

WHEREAS, Ms. Tinç worked as a journalist at the Turkish daily newspaper Hürriyet for 28 years until her retirement in 2011, including serving as head of the newspaper’s Foreign News Desk from 1985 to 1990, editor of the Foreign News Desk from 1990 to 1995, and as a columnist;

WHEREAS, Ms. Tinç is a founding member of the Turkish-Greek Women’s Peace Initiative (WINPEACE) and a founding member of the Peace Journalism commission at the Bosphorus University Peace Education Centre, and she has used her professional career as a platform to push for greater inclusion of women’s points of view in foreign political journalism;

WHEREAS, Ms. Tinç has been a member of IPI since 1996, and served as chair of IPI’s Turkish National Committee from 2003 to 2012;

WHEREAS, Ms. Tinç has served as a member of IPI’s Executive Board since 2008.

WHEREAS, the Turkish Journalists’ Association (TGC) on July 24, 2012 – the 104th anniversary of the official abolition of censorship in Turkey – presented Ms. Tinç with its 2012 Press Freedom Award in recognition of her work defending media freedom and journalists in Turkey;

WHEREAS, media freedom remains under grave threat in Turkey, which continues to see a growing climate of fear and self-censorship, and where approximately 76 journalists are currently imprisoned, many on accusations of supporting terrorist organisations in cases that appear to have been brought in retaliation for critical journalism that has angered authorities;

WHEREAS, despite this pressure, Ms. Tinç has faithfully stood up for journalists and fought for media freedom in Turkey and around the world throughout her career, and she has done so with dignity, courage and grace;

IPI’s Executive Board Therefore Resolves:

To recognize the extraordinary and well-deserved honour bestowed upon Ferai Tinç by the Turkish Journalists’ Association;

To honour Ms. Tinç for her contributions to media freedom in Turkey and around the world through her work on behalf of IPI and its Turkish National Committee;

To take note of Ms. Tinç’s dedication and selfless efforts in support of media freedom, so that her work might serve as an example to others;

To thank Ms. Tinç on behalf of IPI and its members across the globe for her service and for the sacrifices she has made in order to advance media freedom in Turkey and around the world.