Representatives from the International Press Institute (IPI) today began a three-day Press Freedom Mission to Turkey to highlight the continuing trend of deteriorating media freedom in the country.

Delegates are scheduled to meet this week in Ankara with State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP); Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP); and representatives from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). They are also scheduled to meet with a broad array of media professionals in Istanbul.

The delegates include high-level representatives from media in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, India and Nigeria, including two former IPI Executive Board chairs as well as current and former members of the Board. Representatives from IPI’s Turkish National Committee will also join the meetings.

The mission will press for the release of imprisoned journalists in Turkey and an end to the prosecution of journalists on charges that many believe are related to the exercise of journalism. Delegates will also call on members of Parliament to enact real reforms to provide strong guarantees of media freedom that align with international standards, including comprehensive reform of vaguely-defined anti-terrorism and criminal laws, and all other laws used against the media.

IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said the delegates would also speak out on the leeway that judges have in interpreting those laws. “Even though Turkish lawmakers have instituted some reforms on paper that appear positive, judges have such a wide berth in interpreting what those reforms mean,” she said. “For the most part, they appear to be interpreting them in a manner that goes against the spirit of those reforms.”

Bethel McKenzie also expressed disappointment that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declined a request to meet with the delegation. “I am disappointed that the Prime Minister and other high-level officials criticize IPI and other press freedom organizations yet remain, year after year, reluctant to meet with us in person to explain their position,” she commented.