Launch of international press freedom mission report
• Still over 120 journalists in jail in Turkey
• Over 100 terror-related investigations opened since Turkey’s incursion into Syria
• Fair trial principles routinely breached
• New efforts to stifle online media
• Is the judicial reform strategy a sham or an opportunity?
• How should the EU respond?
The International Press Institute (IPI) recently led a press freedom mission to Turkey, where over 120 journalists are currently jailed and hundreds more face prosecution following the failed military coup of July 2016. A central concern was the systemic failure of the judicial system to provide justice to those caught up in the post-coup backlash and charged with terrorism offences. The Turkish government has responded to universal criticism of a cowed and compromised judiciary by introducing a judicial reform package that, in the mission’s view, fails to sufficiently address the central obstacles to justice and free expression.
Over two days in Brussels, the mission members will present their findings to leaders and policy makers in the European Commission and the European Parliament and hold discussions on how the EU can best engage to support the plight of Turkey’s journalists. The public launch of the mission report will take place at 18:00 at the Brussels Press Club on November 18 where speakers from the mission and leading journalists from Turkey will testify on the plight of journalists in the country and debate the opportunities for European engagement to support freedom of expression in Turkey.
Join leading journalists from Turkey and representatives of the coalition of freedom of expression groups and Alice Kuhnke, Swedish MEP for the Greens and critic of Turkey’s human rights failings, for an evening’s debate co-hosted by IPI and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on the persecution of Turkey’s journalists and the opportunities for action by the European Union.
Panelists include:
Leading journalists from Turkey: Nevşin Mengü and Bülent Mumay
International Press Institute (IPI): Scott Griffen
Member of the European Parliament for the Swedish Greens: Alice Kuhnke
Moderated by Tom Gibson, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
This event is supported by the eight organizations that participated in the international press freedo mission to Turkey: IPI, CPJ, ARTICLE 19, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, the European Federation of Journalists, Norwegian PEN, PEN International and Reporters without Borders.
About our guest speakers:
Nevşin Mengü has worked in media since 2004 as a reporter, producer and TV anchor. As a war correspondent she has reported conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Afghanistan, and she reported for TRT Türk while based in Iran from 2009 to 2010. She anchored the six p.m. news for CNN Türk from 2011 to 2017, when she was forced to resign after becoming a target of criticism in pro-government media for noting that a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Donald Trump lasted only 23 minutes.
Now working as a freelancer, Mengü writes commentary for the newspaper Diken and Duvar English and produces and presents a weekly show for Deutsche Welle Turkish, “Bire Bir” (one on one). Mengü holds a B.A. in political science from Bilkent University and an M.A. in sociology from Galatasaray University.
Bülent Mumay, born in 1977, is a critical journalist living in İstanbul. Studied sociology in the university and obtained his M.A. on internet journalism. Mumay worked for 18 years in the most influential daily Hürriyet as a reporter, editor, and managing editor of the US and German editions.
Bülent Mumay was editor-in-chief of Hurriyet.com and member of the executive committee when he lost his job following government pressure. He was arrested after the military coup. He now writes a regular column “Briefe Aus Istanbul” (Letters from Istanbul) for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Germany. The column describes daily life, political issues and changes in Turkey in Erdoğan’s era. He also contributes to Der Spiegel, DW and WDR.
Mumay won the 2013 Human Rights Award from the South and East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) for his “human rights-oriented editorial approach despite pressures during Gezi protests.” He was named a “young leader of Turkey” in 2014 and invited to London by British Foreign Commonwealth Office’s International Leaders Program.
Mumay is a member of digital media committees ofthe World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the International News Media Association (INMA). He is also director of INMA’s European Board until 2020.
Turkey’s Journalists in the Dock: Judicial Silencing of the Fourth Estate
Monday, November 18, 2019 from 18:00 – 20:00
Brussels Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Pre-registration is required. To register, please contact
[email protected]. For media enquiries, please contact
[email protected] and +43 1 512 90 11 15
