Press organizations condemn 'extraordinary attack on press freedom' in Turkey

Fourteen leading international press freedom and freedom of expression organizations have condemned the detention of executives and journalists of Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, describing it as an "extraordinary attack on press freedom."

Police launched a broad operation against Cumhuriyet on Nov. 1, arresting over a dozen journalists, managers and lawyers, including editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu and columnist Kadri Gürsel, a member of the International Press Institute's (IPI) global executive board.

The organizations said they were "deeply disturbed" by the attack both against "a highly respected newspaper that remains one of Turkey's last sources of critical news and information and a representative of a major international human rights organization."

The organizations called on Turkey to immediately release the detained Cumhuriyet journalists, as well as the more than 130 other journalists currently behind bars "for exercising their right to freedom of expression" in the country.

In copies of the open letter addressed to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ, as well as foreign embassies and consulates in Ankara and Istanbul, the group made an urgent request to discuss its concerns in person.

"We are deeply disturbed by this move against not only a highly respected newspaper that remains one of Turkey's last sources of critical news and information but also a representative of a major international human rights organization. We are also extremely concerned that those detained are being held without access to legal counsel and without a clear indictment against them," the open letter read.

"We condemn these arrests and...