International Press Institute

More than 120 journalists have been held in Turkish prisons, a world record, and the media situation in the country has not improved since last year, when the state of emergency was lifted. This was reported by the International Press Institute, quoted by British media.

In 2014, Turkish journalist Arzu Yildiz broke news on how the country's intelligence agency was funnelling arms to rebels in Syria, a sensitive subject for authorities under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The European Commission and the German government have joined a number of international journalism organizations in condemning - and calling for an independent investigation into - the killing of Victoria Marinova, a local TV journalist in the town of Ruse, northern Bulgaria.

The International Press Institute (IPI) today joined five other international press freedom organizations in urging Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to ensure the physical safety of investigative journalists working in their country.

After visiting Croatia in June 2016, a European delegation is back in the country for a two-day visit.

The delegation comprises the South East Europe Media Organisation, the European Broadcasting Union, the European Federation of Journalists, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, Reporters Without Borders and the Association of European Journalists.

Earlier this month, as I prepared myself for a retinal scan to enter a notorious prison in Istanbul, my mind wandered beyond freedom of press to equally important areas for the media and all of us, such as privacy rights, network security, governments, Big Tech, advertisers and concentration of power.

Whoever is giving information to President Tayyip Erdoğan about the Turkish journalists in prison, they are not doing any good neither to him nor the country.

Seventeen suspects, including jailed journalists Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Altan and Mehmet Altan, for the first time appeared before court in Istanbul on June 19, in a case into the alleged "media leg" of what prosecutors call the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), believed to be behind the July 15, 2016 coup attempt. 

Whenever the question is asked to Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ or EU Affairs Minister Ömer Çelik during their travels abroad, they give the standard answer that there is no journalist or writer in jail in Turkey for what they have written or said.

The approval of government-proposed constitutional amendments in the April 16 referendum will bring Turkey's democracy back to pre-1789 French Revolution conditions, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said, criticizing the government for creating an environment in which saying "No" is akin to committing a crime.