The Freedom for Journalists Platform (GOP), an umbrella group representing local and national free expression groups in Turkey, has released a formal declaration calling on the country’s government to take major steps to reverse a sharp decline in the state of press freedom and freedom of expression in recent years.
Members of the GOP, which is currently chaired by the International Press Institute (IPI)’s Turkish National Committee under a rotating chairmanship, began drafting the declaration during the GOP’s second Congress, which took place in Istanbul on July 24.
The final version of the declaration was circulated today.
The Congress brought together Turkish journalists and their families, attorneys, and international representatives, including speakers from IPI and its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO).
The need for improvement in the state of media freedom in Turkey was highlighted sharply last week when a court in Istanbul sentenced nearly two dozen journalists to prison terms ranging from five years to life in prison in connection with the alleged “Ergenekon” coup plot.
The full text of the declaration, as released by the GOP, appears below.
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Second Congress on Freedom for Journalists
Final Declaration
Istanbul, July 24th, 2013
The Second Congress on Freedom for Journalists was convened in Istanbul, on the 105th anniversary of the Initial Removal of the Censor on July 24th through the participation of the representatives of the national and international professional associations, the families of the imprisoned journalists, released journalists and journalists on trial, the attorneys of the journalists on trial, the representatives of several non-governmental organizations, the representatives of the social media, the employed journalists and the journalists who have been fired due to political oppressions.
The Congress stressed that the violations of press freedom and freedom of speech were the major obstacles against the democratization.
The Congress emphasized that the public was being hindered from accessing the accurate information being informed about the facts due to the fact that the media became functionless, and it was pointed out that the oppression over the media was increased, censor and self-censor practices have expanded.
The Congress remarked the concerns about the attempts by the political power for taking the media tools under control as the public tended towards the social media tools to access information and accurate information.
The Congress remarked the importance of improving the readers’ representation which put and emphasis on the internal auditing and principles of journalism in media with reference to the fact that there are currently three readers’ representatives (ombudsman) in the mainstream media in Turkey.
The Congress emphasized that; during the time passed since the first Congress, particularly during a period where the peaceful demonstrations began at Gezi Park and spread throughout the country continue, the struggle in Turkey for democratization, freedom, equality and justice could not be limited to the freedom of press; and shall be integrated with the challenge for the freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of convening, demonstration and marching and the fundamental rights and freedoms of the public.
In light of all these matters, the Second Congress on Freedom for Journalists resolved to call out the Government about the issues below:
1) Complete judicial independency must be assured for Turkey being a democratic state of justice.
2) All obstacles in front of the freedom of press in Turkey shall immediately be removed. The Turkish Criminal Code, Anti-Terror Law and Press Law shall immediately be revised based on the international criteria on freedom of press and speech.
3) All penal sanctions preventing the journalists to perform their profession are violations of freedom of press in accordance with the ECHR. Therefore, the journalists imprisoned due to their journalistic activities shall immediately be released. The journalists shall no longer be accused of being terrorists as they disturb the government through their news, articles and speeches.
4) The government shall immediately take all necessary steps for ensuring the unionization freedom of the journalists.
5) As it became evident once again during the Gezi Park demonstrations, the police prevented the journalists from performing their profession and targeted the journalists. This is absolutely unacceptable and is a direct attack against the right of the public to be informed. We remind the government its obligations to ensure the safety of the journalists following the social incidents and to provide suitable working environment for them.
6) The demonstrations in Gezi Park, once again revealed that the cooperation of the government with some media bosses and its oppression over some other media bosses made the publishing bodies functionless. The Congress underlined that this situation was the main reason for the self-censor in Turkey undermining the journalism and called out the government and the media bosses to take necessary steps to assure the editorial independency.
7) The freedom of social media is one of the main indicators of freedom of communication in Turkey. It is unacceptable that people are being prosecuted due to their opinions expressed on the social media.
