Turkish Journalist Association (TGC) President Turgay Olcayto has called on the ruling party and opposition parties “to remove the barriers to freedom of press and expression, free imprisoned journalists and stop treating journalism as a crime,” in his Jan. 10 “Working Journalists’ Day” message.
Olcayto also called on other media workers, saying: “We need more solidarity [among each other]. Journalists should also stop targeting their colleagues.”
The association’s president also said almost one out of every three journalists had been left unemployed in the last 10 years, 145 of which were currently imprisoned, highlighting the dire situation of journalists in the country. Working Journalists’ Day, celebrated in Turkey since 1961, is supposed to honor the rights of reporters and other media workers in the country.
“As journalists frequently face legal challenges, their second address has become the courthouse. Journalists cannot practice their profession. And among our journalist colleagues, the membership rate in unions is very low. In Europe, this rate is at least 25 percent, whereas in Turkey, it is only 5.9 percent. The loss of blood in the sector continues as critical journalism is not allowed to happen,” Olcayto said.
“Publication bans, fines, lawsuits, detentions, arrests, censorship, and self-censorship have become daily occurrences. In addition, politicians label journalism a terrorist activity and journalists terrorists, which puts our colleagues into the crosshairs. Verbal and physical attacks on journalists continue. Despite complaints, these attacks, unfortunately, go unpunished,” he said.