Turkish President Abdullah Gül spoke out against censorship yesterday, but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defended barring some media outlets from covering their Justice and Development Party (AKP)’s convention in Ankara last Sunday. Gül said in remarks opening the legislative year at Turkey’s parliament: “When writers, thinkers and intellectuals share their opinions without fear, such […]

The International Press Institute (IPI) and its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), today condemned reported instances of censorship by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) related to the party’s Congress yesterday in Ankara. Hürriyet reported that the party barred dissident newspapers and television channels from covering the event, including daily newspapers […]

The International Press Institute today joined with its Turkish National Committee, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), EFJ affiliate the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası – TGS) and the Freedom for Journalists Platform (Gazetecilere Özgürlük Platformu – GÖP) to issue a statement expressing alarm over the continuing deterioration of media freedom in Turkey. […]

A court in Istanbul yesterday evening ordered the release of two of three journalists on trial in the OdaTV case that had remained imprisoned. Representatives of the International Press Institute (IPI) and its Turkish National Committee travelled to the Silivri prison to greet Barış Terkoğlu and Barış Pehlivan, who emerged from the prison to a […]