According to CPJ’s report, there are currently 40 journalists behind bars in Turkey and it was stated in the report that the authorities have continued to harass and censor critical voices, firing and forcing the resignation of almost 60 reporters in connection with their coverage of the anti-government protests in Gezi Park in June 2013.
“The government tried to censor coverage of sensitive events, threatened to restrict social media, and, in one case, used social media to wage a smear campaign against a journalist. … The jailing of journalists, the conflation of criticism with terrorism, and the government’s heated anti-press rhetoric, which emboldened prosecutors to go after critics, marred Turkey’s press freedom record and thwarted its aspirations to be regarded as a regional leader and democratic model,” reads the report.
The report states that along with the 40 journalists who are in prison at the moment, 59 journalists have also been forced out or fired by their employers after criticizing the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.
Mahir Zeynalov, a journalist for Today’s Zaman in Turkey, left Turkey for his native Azerbaijan last Friday morning following a government decision to deport him for posting tweets deemed critical of the government.