Media freedom in Turkey

Police used water cannon and tear gas to forcefully enter the Gülen-linked Koza İpek Holding’s media headquarters in Istanbul amid protests

A Turkish prosecutor has demanded up to seven years and six months in jail for Diyarbak?r Bar Association head Tahir Elçi on the grounds of "making propaganda of a terror organization," after remarks he made regarding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). 

The appointment of a trustee panel for Koza ?pek, a corporation linked to the Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gülen, ahead of the general elections on Nov. 1 has created an uproar across Turkey amid scuffles between the police and supporters of the firm in the company's building on Oct. 27.

The current polarization in Turkey may have been triggered by the European Union's obstacles in the accession process, leading Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an to choose more authoritarian paths, prominent U.S. activist and linguist Noam Chomsky has told daily Hürriyet in an interview.How do you see Turkey in 2015?

The website of the weekly Nokta magazine has been blocked after one of its articles allegedly defamed the Justice and Development Party (AKP), a month after the office of the magazine was raided by police on allegations that the publication ?defamed the Turkish president.? 

The international news organization VICE blacked out all of its digital and social channels for two hours on Oct. 21 in a move to show support for one of its journalists who has been under detention in Turkey for two months.

A Kurdish problem-oriented Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy candidate for the June 7 elections has claimed he was tortured while under detention for allegedly sharing posts on Twitter which gave information in advance about the Ankara bombing on Oct. 10, daily Cumhuriyet reported on its website on Oct. 18.

Concern over the deteriorating state of press freedom in Turkey and its impact on the upcoming Nov. 1 parliamentary elections have prompted a coalition of international free expression groups to undertake an emergency press freedom mission to the country next week, the International Press Institute (IPI) announced over the weekend.

The Ankara Public Prosecutor?s Office has launched an investigation into two private broadcasters recently removed from Turkey?s leading broadband provider.

A media ban on the investigation into the twin bombings in Ankara on Oct. 10 has been criticized by politicians from the three opposition parties and jurists, while the Ankara Bar Association took legal action against the ban.