WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Turkey’s government must halt its attacks on journalists and take steps to strengthen press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in an open letter to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
“The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to express alarm at a fresh wave of anti-press actions in Turkey and to ask that you use the power of your office to reverse the measures,” according to Monday’s letter, signed by CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.
The letter detailed what the CPJ described as “violations against press freedom and freedom of expression.” Earlier this month, a Turkish prosecutor indicted Dutch freelance journalist Frederike Geerdink for “making propaganda” on behalf of the PKK and KCK, Kurdish groups that Turkey accuses of terrorism.
An Istanbul prosecutor launched a criminal probe of Turkish daily Cumhuriyet and two of its journalists, Hikmet Cetinkaya and Ceyda Karan, who published the cover of the first edition of Charlie Hebdo following last month’s terrorist attack in Paris. When they received death threats on social media, Prime Minister Davutoglu said the journalists were provoking people to launch an attack on the newspaper, according to CPJ.
That followed December police raids on media outlets which have been critical of Prime Minister Davutoglu’s government. Zaman editor Ekrem Dumanli has been banned from travelling abroad, while Samanyolu TV chairman Hidayet Karaca was remanded into pre-trial custody on December 14. Both are charged with establishing a terrorist group, committing forgery, and slander, the CPJ’s statement said.
“While these are serious accusations, authorities are yet to produce evidence that Dumanli or Karaca have committed any crime,” CPJ said.
The New York-based watchdog group credited the Turkish government for reducing the number of journalists imprisoned in the country, but called on Davutoglu to speak up in defense of press freedom and denounce attacks on media workers.
