Turkey keeps 'not free' position in Freedom House report on press freedom

Turkey remained ?not free? in terms of its press freedom, increasing its overall negative-trending score from 62 to 65 compared to the previous year, according to Freedom House?s ?2015 Freedom of the Press? report.

?Conditions for media freedom in Turkey continued to deteriorate in 2014 after several years of decline,? read a part of the U.S.-based think tank?s report, released on April 28. 

The report stated that the government had enacted new laws that expanded both the state?s power to block websites and the surveillance capability of the National Intelligence Organization (M?T). 

?Journalists faced unprecedented legal obstacles as the courts restricted reporting on corruption and national security issues. The authorities also continued to aggressively use the penal code, criminal defamation laws and an antiterrorism law to crack down on journalists and media outlets,? it read. 

Turkey was relegated from the league of ?partly free? countries to the league of ?not free? countries in Freedom House?s 2014 Freedom of Press Report. This year, Turkey?s overall score went to 65 from 62, with a higher score indicating less press freedom. 

The country has showed a continued negative trend since 2009, as its overall score climbed from 50 to 65 in just six years. 

Turkey scored 24 points out of 40 in the legal environment section, 27 out of 40 in the political environment and 14 out of 30 in the economic environment, making the country?s overall score 65. 

?Verbal attacks on journalists by senior politicians?including Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, the incumbent prime minister who was elected president in August?were often followed by harassment and even death threats against the targeted journalists on social media,? the...