‘Journalism in Turkey is on its last leg’
P24’s Yavuz Baydar and IPI’s Kadri Gürsel raise alarm at Council of Europe’s media conference.
19.10.2015
Council of Europe (CoE) held its first comprehensive conference on media freedom at its center, Strasbourg, in October 13-14. The keynote speaker at the meeting – attended by a large group of journalists, academicians, NGO representatives, law experts and diplomats – was, perhaps not surprisingly, Zühtü Arslan, top judge of Turkey. It was obvious the country is in focus for a growing threat over its free speech and freedom of expression.
Attending the conference also were a small group of independent journalists and scholars from Turkey. Yavuz Baydar, founding member of P24, Kadri Gürsel, chairperson of IPI National Committee and Prof Yasemin İnceoğlu, Dean of Faculty of Journalism in Galatasaray University all participated, expressing profound concern over the state of basic freedoms in Turkey.
Here are the links to the statements made by Baydar and Gürsel, both raising alarm to new levels.