Turkey Among Countries With Highest Decline in Freedom of Press

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Freedom House on its Freedom of Press 2016 Report has listed Turkey once again under the category of “non-free” countries with regards to freedom of press.   According to the report, Turkey is among the countries with the largest decline.

The 32-page report is titled The Battle for the Dominant Message.

World in its lowest point in 12 years.

The findings in the report are in short as follows:

* Global press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2015, as political, criminal, and terrorist forces sought to co-opt or silence the media in their broader struggle for power.

* The share of the world’s population that enjoys a free press stood at just 13 percent, meaning fewer than one in seven people live in countries where coverage of political news is robust, the safety of journalists is guaranteed, state intrusion in media affairs is minimal, and the press is not subject to onerous legal or economic pressures.

* Forty-one percent of the world’s population has a Partly Free press, and 46 percent live in Not Free media environments. Turkey is listed as a not free country.

Turkey among the countries with the highest decline

* The biggest drop in 2015 has been experienced in Ghana, Hungary, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Gambia, Nauru, Bangladesh, Turkey, Burundi, France, Serbia, Yemen, Macedonia and Zimbabwe.

Turkey has dropped 6 points in 2015.

* The countries which are ranked lowest in freedom of press are Nord Korea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kirim, Eritrea, Cuba, Belarus, Equatorial Guinea, Iran and Syria.

Most dangerous topics and regions.

* Syria was once again the most dangerous country for journalists this year.

* Corruption, organized crime, environment and land development, religion, disputed sovereignty, and insulting the state or top authorities have been listed as the most dangerous topics for journalists.  

Turkey: Trustee, trial and censor

The section of the report concerning Turkey is as follows:

According to the report, in Turkey which is listed among the countries where the press “is not free”, legal situation has dropped back by 2 points, financial situation by 1 point and freedom of the press by 6 points. Turkey got 71 points in freedom of the press. [Worst: 100 Best: 0]

The authorities have accused a lot of journalists of terror activities. The report reminded that Cumhuriyet daily’s Ankara Representative, Erdem Gül was arrested over MİT (National Intelligence Agency) Truck report.

Accreditation has been started to be used arbitrarily and discriminatively by the government.

Two attacks occurred against Hürriyet daily in September, three journalists were murdered because of occupational activities.

Tens of people have fallen out of work upon trustee appointment to Koza İpek Holding, the publishing has become pro-government by the editorial change.

Anti-Terror Law has been used as an oppressive tool against the journalists. Probes have been launched into journalists on grounds of “Insulting Turkishness” and “incenting people to grudge and hostility”.

While MİT has been entrusted with broad authorization by the MİT act, restrictions have been imposed on journalism. Authorization of Telecommunication Communications Presidency (TİB) has been broadened with regards to denying access to websites.

The report reminded of the investigations launched into 18 journalists tweeting as to Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz’s being taken hostage and killed; arrest of Can Dündar and Erdem Gül over MİT Truck report; the journalists being tried over “insulting President”.

The report drawing attention to pro-government editorial stance of the public channel TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Association) and state-run Anadolu Agency, also listed the subjects as Kurdish question, publications about Armenian genocide, Cumhuriyet daily attempting to publish Charlie Hebdo caricature, censors against Nokta magazine which published fictional photo of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The report emphasizing that media ownership is mostly in the hands of companies operating in areas of such as energy, mining, and construction, drew attention that some of these companies have been prospered during Erdoğan’s term via TMSF (Saving Deposit Insurance Fund). It is stated that the opposition channels are being shut down and taken off the digital platforms.

Please click here for full text of the report. (EA/DG/TK)