Concern Rising Over Press Freedom in Turkey

Press freedom and human rights organizations have condemned police raids against pro-opposition media outlets in Turkey.

Just days before the Nov. 1 election, police in Istanbul broke into the offices of Koza İpek Group, shut down live television broadcasts and used teargas and water canons against protesters outside the facility.

In a press release Nina Ognianova, Europe and Central Asia program coordinator for the Committe to Protect Journalists (CPJ), called for the Turkish goverment to return the TV stations and the company’s other media outlets “to their rightful management.”

The government has alleged ties between Koza İpek Group and a government critic accused of leading an illegal opposition movement. Turkish media reports that Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile, denies those charges. 

Amnesty International and the US State Department have also expressed concern over the incident. 

Meanwhile, CPJ and VICE News have launched a petition on Chage.org calling for the release of Iraqi journalist Imel Rasool, who was arrested along with two British journalists while he was working as a fixer for Vice News in Turkey in August. 

“Western newsrooms increasingly rely on local journalists as foreign bureaus shut down and reporting from conflict areas grows more dangerous,” the organizations wrote on the campaign’s web page. “Without journalists like Rasool, international correspondents would struggle to navigate foreign terrain, and world news would have little local context.”

CPJ condemns Turkish raids, takeover of critical Koza İpek news outlets (CPJ) >>

Read more about the Free Rasool campaign on Change.org >>