Pressure on journalists in Turkey has severely escalated since parliamentary elections on June 7, restricting the media’s ability to report on matters of public interest, according to press freedom groups who conducted a joint international emergency mission to the country this week. Ahead of fresh elections on November 1, the group said that if the pressure continues, it is likely “to have a significant, negative impact on the ability of voters in Turkey to share and receive necessary information, with a corresponding effect on Turkey’s democracy.”
CPJ’s research associate in the Europe and Central Asia program, Muzaffar Suleymanov, participated in the mission along with representatives from International Press Institute, Reporters Without Borders, the International Federation of Journalists, the European Federation of Journalists, Index on Censorship, Article 19, and the Ethical Journalism Network.
Read the mission’s full concluding statement here.