July 23, 2015

Pressure, bans and censorship in Turkey

located:	Turkey
editor:	Murat Suner

Turkey’s press freedom record has become devastating in recent years with scores of journalists jailed, fired or harassed over their reporting.

According to Hürriyet Daily News, a Republican People’s Party (CHP) report revealed on July 22 the plight of culture and arts in Turkey, notes 65 cases of pressure, bans and censorship in the first half of 2015 alone.

Now, after the deadly Suruç bombing, which claimed at least 32 lives in Turkey’s southeast, the Turkish journalist Kadri Gürsel has been dismissed from his job. Gürsel, a popular columnist for daily newspaper Milliyet, shared a post on his Twitter account in which he anonymously referred to President Erdoğan and "criticized foreign leaders’ phone calls" after the deadly Suruç bombing, which claimed at least 32 lives in Turkey’s southeast reports Hürriyet Daily News.

Gürsel, who is also the president of International Press Institue (IPI) Turkish National Committee, tweeted “It is shameful that foreign leaders call and console the person who is the number one cause of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL] terror in Turkey.”

Following that, daily Milliyet published a statement on its website that said the group had parted ways with Gürsel as his comments were not in accord with journalism ethics and the group’s publishing views.

Until 2011 Milliyet was part of the Doğan Media Group. Due to its government critical reporting the group was harassed and heavily fined by Turkish tax authorities. In the aftermath it was aquired by the Demirören Holding, which is said to have close ties to the ruling AKP government.