Turkish Journalists Association

The hashtag "#FreeTurkeyJournalists" circulated on Twitter on Dec. 9 by Turkish and international press organizations as part of a social media campaign to bring attention to 146 journalists imprisoned by decree laws ordered under the state of emergency declared after the July 15 coup attempt. 

The journalists will enter the new year in prison. 

Hürriyet reporter Ömer Erbil will be awarded the Turkish Journalists Association's (TGC) Sedat Simavi Award for his reporting on the danger of a collapse at Istanbul's historic Topkapı Palace in September.

The date and venue of the award ceremony will be announced later.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said "developments in Turkey are alarming." Was it strange to hear such words from her or from any other European leader? If such a sentence was to come out from the mouth of Vladimir Putin, right, then it would have been totally awkward.

Detentions and arrests of journalists violate freedom of information and the targeting of journalists make them victims of the ongoing post-coup attempt state of emergency process, a group of Turkish journalism organizations have said in a statement.

Around 500 journalists were fired and 70 others were subjected to physical violence in 2015, the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) has said.

"The greatest threats against journalists have been lawsuits filed against them and facing imprisonment," the TGC said in a report which depicted the state of journalism in 2015.

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has launched an international appeal for the release of arrested Cumhuriyet journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, as well as many other reporters who remain detained in Turkey.

A Turkish court has dismissed an objection to the arrest of Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül that was filed by the journalists' lawyers on Nov. 30, amid appeals launched by local and international press organizations for the release of the two.

An award-winning journalist was briefly detained on April 15 in a case stemming from one of her recent reports that allegedly "slandered" someone, according to Turkish media.

Zeynep Kuray, a journalist at daily BirGün, was visiting her father in Ankara's Sincan Prison together with her sister and Revolutionary People's Party (DHP) chairman Celal Özcan when she was detained.

The Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) and the Turkey Journalists’ Labor Union (TGS) have released a joint statement to condemn the Dec. 14 police operation against the Zaman and Samanyolu media outlets, saying freedom of press and opinion are being “punished” in Turkey.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has defended Turkey’s under-fire national football team coach Fatih Terim after the 4-0 friendly defeat against Brazil on Nov. 12, while also extending his observations to the secret of Brazil’s success and the current state of the sports media.