'Oppression and censorship have become entrenched in Turkey'

"Free press is a requirement of democracy" - Photo: Eylem Nazlıer/Evrensel

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Progressive Journalists Association (ÇGD) has released its 40th monthly Media Monitoring Report, in which it has recorded the practices that hinder the work of journalists such as censorship, threats-violence, detention-trial, loss of personal rights and manipulations in news.

The ÇGD has presented the report to the public in a press statement titled "We will either make our voices heard freely or we will perish!"

"Our 40th report, which includes the developments in August, is full of violations of freedom of the press, just like the previous ones," reads the press release, sharing the following observations in brief:

'Oppression, censorship are now permanent'

"One of the most important consequences of the negative picture we face in terms of freedom of thought, expression and press is that oppression and censorship have become entrenched, in other words, permanent.

"The destruction of the rule of law, which is the guarantee of our fundamental rights, is eroding the public's right to receive information and the mission of journalists to be the spokespersons of visible reality.

At this stage, it has become much clearer that freedom of thought, expression and press are the main pillars of the struggle for existence in a free, equal and democratic legal order.

Coverage of wildfires, violence against immigrants

"Last month, the events surrounding the wildfires and violence against immigrants showed the rottenness of the state organization in Turkey as the authorities and sometimes 'organized groups' tried to prevent the smoke and stench from being displayed to the public attention by journalists.

"The news coverage on the inadequacies of the authorities responding to forest fires, which was witnessed by the whole world, was prevented by the media watchdog Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), which has become a repression tool of the government on press organizations, first by threats and then by penalties on press.

"The media organizations which do not take a step back from broadcasting this news for the right of the public to receive information were attempted to be silenced by the physical attacks of some 'organized groups'.

'They have given up journalism'

"Last month, we observed manipulations of news and oppression on the press in an effort to exonerate the government for their responsibility on the inconsistent and inadequate immigration policy which has caused the death of a citizen. In this manner, the pro-government press adopted an editorial approach that targeted oppositional and critical points of view.

"The news about wildfires and immigration policy published by pro-government media organs, which have long declared that they have given up journalism, showed that they have lost their comprehension of not only journalistic principles but also basic human values.

Appointments to, dismissals from state channel

In July, some people who are against freedom of the press were appointed to the board of directors of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) which is the institution of public broadcasting and visual archive of Turkey.

"In a month after their appointment, the new TRT administration signaled their future actions; the appointees who do not know the corporation and who do not have any contribution to it attempted to eradicate human resources by relying on the political power which they take support from.

"As of this year, the chief video editor, who has completed her 22nd year in the corporation, and also the manager of KESK Haber-Sen, Deniz Salmanlı, was first suspended due to his social media posts and 3 months after she was dismissed by Presidential Decree no 375.

"There was no legal action taken against Deniz Salmanlı on this issue and she was not even asked to give her defence before the decision.

"The government and the cadres authorized by it have adopted an understanding which does not only prevent the truth from being heard by the public, but also does not allow any living space to those who speak these truths. It is a fact that the government will increase its partisan practices. In this context, it will continue to eliminate anyone it sees as an obstacle.

Facing this situation, we are determined to defend our rights in a more organized and principled way. We will either live according to our thoughts, express our opinions freely and make our voices heard or we will perish!

Violations of press freedom in numbers

The ÇGD has shared the following information about the blocks, legal actions, assaults and violations faced by journalists in August:

• 4 news sites were completely blocked,
• online access to a total of 208 news was blocked. 147 of which these blocks have directly targeted the news,
• within the scope of four incidents, two of which were related to wildfires, dozens of journalists were prevented from reporting the news by security forces based on lack of accreditation by the government, or unlawful regulation of the Security General Directorate, which bans video or audio recording of public events,
• 6 journalists were taken into custody while reporting 5 different incidents,
• 4 journalists were faced legal actions as indictments were issued and lawsuits were filed. Within the scope of these lawsuits, a prosecutor asked up to three years prison sentence for a journalist, while 2 journalists were sued to pay 100 thousand Turkish Liras compensation for news pieces that they reported,
• 3 journalists were asked to give a statement on 3 new investigations,
• 2 journalists were sentenced to a total of 10 years 5 months in prison as a
part of ongoing proceedings,
• 8 journalists were battered while reporting news,
• a journalist threatened,
• a journalist was shot by a gun,
• a journalist was targeted by a political party representative, and
• a journalist was murdered.

(SO/SD)