His Excellency Askar Akayev
President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan
Office of the President
Bishkek
Kyrgyzstan

Vienna, 13 August 1997

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting organisations and news agencies in over 100 countries, is most concerned about a recent decision by the authorities not to allow a Turkish journalist to enter the country.

We are informed that Ramazan Öztürk, a journalist with the Istanbul daily newspaper Sabah, arrived at Bishkek Airport on 9 August 1997. Upon arrival, Kyrgys police prevented him from entering the country and destroyed his camera before sending him back to Turkey with the Turkish alliance plane he had arrived on. We understand that the authorities’ decision not to allow Mr. Öztürk into Kyrgyzstan was made because of an interview the journalist had conducted in Chechnya.

IPI regards the barring of Mr. Öztürk from entering the country to be a violation of the right to “seek, receive and impart information through any media and regardless of frontiers,” as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In order to ensure the free flow of news and information, national border must be open to foreign journalists, who should also be allowed to travel freely within a country and be allowed to import and export freely all necessary professional equipment.

We therefore urge Your Excellency to ensure that Mr. Öztürk is allowed to enter the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and that both domestic and foreign journalists are allowed to carry out their profession without obstruction.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director