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May-August 2019 M4D Me-dia Monitoring Report

A Publication of the Associ - ation of Journalists Media for Democracy/Democracy for Media Programme is implemented by the Association of Journalists with European Union financing. This report belongs to the

Association of Journalists. It may be reproduced partially or completely by giving reference, and it may be used in scientific publications.Association of JournalistsBoard of Directors

Chairman Nazmi Bilgin

Deputy ChairmanSavaş Kıratlı

Vice Chairmen


Ertürk Yöndem, Ayhan Aydemir, Yusuf Kanlı

Secretary GeneralÜmit Gürtuna

Financial SecretaryMustafa Yoldaş

MembersGüray Soysal, Ali Şimşek, Ali Oruç, Önder Yılmaz, Önder Sürenkök, Olgunay Köse ve Nursun Erel

About the M4D ProgrammeMedia for Democracy/Democracy for Media Programme (M4D) is financed by the European Union and implemented by the Association of Journalists to strengthen pluralist media in Turkey as a safe-guard for democracy. The main goal of the project is: To strengthen media pluralism in Turkey as a safe-guard for democracy. Specific goals of M4D Programme: The first goal of the programme is to establish a basis where pluralist and independent media can receive support by the public, and to increase awareness in this regard. The second goal of the programme is to establish a platform where journalists can increase their solidar-ity and feel safe. For more information about M4D and the supports we offer please visit: www.media4democracy.org

This report was prepared by the Association of Journalists Democracy for Media/Media for Democracy Programme team using data collected from open sources, media screening, various applic-ations and reports made to the project office. All content in this report belongs to the responsibility of the Association of Journalists, it may be reproduced partially or completely by giving reference, and may be used in scientific publications. .

* * *Telephone: +90 (312) 427 15 22Fax: +90 (312) 468 23 84E-Mail:[email protected]: www.gazetecilercemiyeti.org.trwww.media4democracy.orgAddress: Üsküp Caddesi (Çevre Sokak) No:35, Çankaya, Ankara

About the Association of Journalists

The Association of Journalists was founded on 10 January 1946 by journalists Mekki Sait Esen,

Niyazi Acun, Aka Gündüz, Bilal Akba, Adil Akba, Sebahattin Sönmez and Muvaffak Menemencioğlu. The founding purpose of the association was to unite journalists in different press organs under one roof, improve professional and social rights, and to safeguard the rights and freedoms of journalism which are imperative to the profession.

Founding chairman Mekki Sait Esen headed the Association of Journalists between 1946 and 1956, he was succeeded by former senator Ecvet Güresin between 1956-1957.

Gazanfer Kurt, founder and owner of Kudret Newspaper, headed the association until 1959, then Atilla Bartınlıoğlu took over until 1960. Former CHP member of parliament Altan Öymen was chairman of the association between 1960 and 1961, he was later succeeded by İbrahim Cüceoğlu in 1961. Akis magazine manager and writer Metin Toker became chairman of the Association of Journalists in 1962, after having served a 7 month and 53-day prison sentence in 1957.

Founding owner of Ekspress Newspaper Doğan Kasaroğlu took over as chairman in 1963 until 1968, he was later appointed as general manager of TRT.

Beyhan Cenkçi, who worked in positions such as general editor, writer, editor-in-chief and executive editor for Yenigün, Ulus, Ankara Telgraf, Ankara Ekspres and Dünya newspapers, was also chairman of the Journalists Union for five years. Cenkçi, who received a one-and-a-half-year prison sentence along with some of his colleagues before 1960, was elected as chairman of the Association of Journalists in 1969. He continued to serve as chairman of the Association of Journalists until 1992. Cenkçi also served as senator in the Senate of the Republic during his 24 years as chairman in the Association of Journalists.

Nazmi Bilgin, who started his professional career in 1971 in Son Havadis Newspaper, worked as chief-in-editor and owner of Güneş Newspaper, he later served as news director at Dünya Newspaper. Bilgin also worked as the parliament and Presidency correspondent for Tercüman Newspaper. After having taken part in the founding of TRT-2, he worked as “Senior Correspondent” and “General Manager Consultant” in TRT for five years. Bilgin was elected as Chairman of the Association of Journalists unanimously in 1992. He founded the Federation of Journalists in Turkey in 1996, where he served as chairman until 2009.

Bilgin served as the Ankara correspondent for BRT Television, he is also a member and supervisor in the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO. He continues to serve as a member of the board of directors for the Public Advertisement Administration (BİK), and he is a member of the board of trustees, board of directors of the Turkish Armed Forces “Elele Foundation” and the Advertisement Agency.

The Association of Journalists is as old as Turkey’s transition to a multi-party system, or in other words its transition to a pluralist democracy. Our association started its journey with only a handful of journalists, today it has more than 2000 members, financial independence and has become one of Turkey’s oldest, largest and most respected professional and non-governmental organizations.

Since its beginning in 1946, the Association of Journalists has relentlessly stood by its country, and has vigilantly defended the republic, its pluralist democracy, the freedom of expression and freedom of the press. The Association of Journalists has taken its rightful place among the respected professional organizations of our country thanks to the reassurance it has provided over the years.

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http://www.media4democracy.org/


May-August 2019 M4D Me-dia Monitoring Report

A Publication of the Association of Journalists Media for Democracy/Democracy for Media Programme is implemented by the Association of Journalists with European Union financing. This report belongs to the

Association of Journalists. It may be reproduced partially or completely by giving reference, and it may be used in scientific publications.

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Table of Contents

Introduction.......................................................................................................................3

General situation................................................................................................................3

“My media, my journalist …”...........................................................................................7

Layoffs...............................................................................................................................8

The issue of censorship continued.....................................................................................9

Press trials........................................................................................................................10

Impunity..........................................................................................................................12

Public broadcasting.........................................................................................................12

Circulation.......................................................................................................................13

Journalists in prison.........................................................................................................15

Positive developments.....................................................................................................16

Observations....................................................................................................................16

Evaluation........................................................................................................................18

Conclusion.......................................................................................................................21

Abbreviations..................................................................................................................22

TablesFigure 1 - Censorship cases / Sansür vakaları...............................................................................................9Figure 2 - Cumulative access restrictions / Birikimli erişim engellemeleri..................................................9Figure 3 - Circulation of pro-government newspapers / Hükümet yanlısı gazete tirajları..........................13Figure 4 - Circulation of critical newspapers / Muhalif gazete tirajları.......................................................14Figure 5 - Ratio of pro-government and critical media / Hükümet yanlısı ve eleştirel medya oranı..........14Figure 6 - Detained and convicted journalists (2012-2019) / Tutuklu ve hükümlü gazeteciler..................15Figure 7 - Detained and convicted journalists (2019) / Tutuklu ve hükümlü gazeteciler...........................15Figure 8 - Unionization in Turkish media (2019 figures are as of end of August - 2019 rakamları Ağustos

itibarıyladır. Kaynak/Source: TGS) / Türk medyasında sendikalaşma......................................21

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Introduction Financed by the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey as part of “Civil Society

Facility and Media Programme” and implemented by the Association of Journalists, the “Me-dia for Democracy/Democracy for Media Programme” has prepared this report for the second quarterly period (May-August) of 2019.

The M4D programme was officially launched on 2 January 2019, it has been in effect since the completion of the Press House in April and will continue to be so until April 2022. M4D programme aims to strengthen pluralist media and press freedom in Turkey as a safe-guard for democracy. As part of the program, annual press freedom monitoring reports and quarterly media monitoring reports are published. This report is the second of the periodic monitoring reports.

General situationThe results of the March 31 General Local Election results as well as the decision for

re-election for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and state appointed mayors to certain HDP municipalities were the main items of the agenda for the second quarter of 2019. Presid-ent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared “the Judicial Reform Strategy Document” on 30 May, which was discussed throughout this period in terms of freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

The political atmosphere was defined by the decision of the Supreme Election Board (SEB) in May to renew the election of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, where CHP can-didate Ekrem İmamoğlu had outpaced AKP candidate Binali Yıldırım. The Supreme Election Board’s decision on 23 June to renew elections on grounds of “appointing balloting commit-tee members and committee chairmen who are not public officials during the elections” and only cancelling the ballot papers for the mayoral vote -which was only one of the four ballot-ing papers in each envelope- was met with public reaction. Many artists, citizens and NGO representatives showed their reaction to the SBEs decision and support of CHP candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu by tweeting the hashtag “Everything will be fine” and as a result were tar-geted by the government.

Muhammet Safi, Chairman of the Presidential Archive Department, shared a list of artists supporting İmamoğlu on Twitter with the note “the Record”. Safi then hid his account due to the reaction of the artists and citizens he had listed. Following this development, Pres-ident Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the following remarks about the artists supporting İmamoğlu “You come to us and then you go behind our backs and applaud with these people... … we’re recording all of this”. AKP Nevşehir Mayor Rasim Arı stated that they would not allow these artists to hold events in Cappadocia. Artist Cahit Berkay claimed that he was not given an award during the award ceremony “Türk Sinemasını Geleceğe Taşıyan-lar” (Those Who Have Helped Bring Cinema in Turkey to the Future) held by the “Turkish

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Cinematographic Work Owners Professional Association” due to having supported İmamoğlu.

In May, the issue of “one-sidedness” displayed by media institutions during the 31 March Local Elections continued to be discussed. The cutting short of the TV programme “Tarafsız Bölge” while hosting İmamoğlu and the claims of the dismissal of four cameramen working on set also came into question. CNNTürk , claimed the cameramen were not their own employees, while Sözcü newspaper owner Burak Akbay announced that he would hire these cameramen. İmamoğlu announced that they will establish an alternative news centre for the election in reaction to the Anatolian Agency which was criticized for being untrustworthy and releasing election results late. In June, CHP candidate İmamoğlu and AKP candidate Yıldırım were aired on a live TV debate moderated by İsmail Küçükkaya prior to the elections in Istanbul. The next day, President Erdoğan accused Küçükkaya of only meeting the CHP team before the broadcast and said the footage will be released tomorrow”; the following day Sabah and AHaber released footage recorded in a hotel of the tête-à-tête meeting, which was met with public reaction. Küçükkaya said he had also met the AKP side, and would be taking The Marmara Hotel to court for providing footage recorded in a private space.

President Erdoğan’s declaration of “the Judicial Reform Strategy Document” on 30 May was discussed in terms of improvements in freedom of the press and freedom of expres-sion violations. Erdoğan stated the document would be implemented in terms of legal regula-tions and described it as “an indicator of the commitment to the EU harmonization process”. As part of the reform package, provisions such as adopting reasonable sentences for imprison-ment, zero tolerance for torture and ill-treatment, the right to a fair trial and facilitating access to justice services would be made.

In addition to these developments, 33 summaries of proceeding regarding 21 members of parliament were sent to the Grand National Assembly, which was to be an important devel-opment of May 2019.

June’s agenda was dominated by the re-elections for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municip-ality and CHP candidate İmamoğlu wining the mayorship. Erdoğan's “Judicial Reform Strategy Document” was discussed in terms of the proposed amendments that brought changes to legal proceedings against journalists, and official announcements given to press organizations. Professional organizations and especially local press organizations stressed that layoffs will occur if public announcement revenues are cut and urged the Presidency to change the amendments it has proposed in the announcement system.

In July, following the main opposition party CHP consolidating its win in Istanbul after its triumph in Ankara, the ruling party AKP’s domestic political situation and its financial resources generated much discussion. Founding member and former Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan's resignation from the AKP on July 8, with a written statement signalling the creation of a new political part, drew significant attention. It has been claimed that Babacan

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received the support of 11th President Abdullah Gül. On the other hand, expected serious losses in official announcement revenues under the “Judicial Reform Strategy Document” led to a worried wait in the local press and seven local newspapers in Izmir protested the lack of official announcements through publishing a joint headline.

In August, the agenda was dominated by state appointed mayors to municipalities of opposition parties that won in the March 31 Local Elections. The dismissals of HDP mayors of Diyarbakır, Van and Mardin metropolitan municipalities based on prior investigations -that had not prevented these individuals from running for mayorship- was discussed in terms of “the electoral will”. The government defended its dismissal decision on grounds of “terror-ism”, this development was protested in many cities. Journalists trying to document the protests were detained.

Despite the outcry against legal proceedings held against those sharing news and social media content with the view “Journalism is not a crime”, pre-trial detention targeting journal-ists continued in the second quarter of the year. Journalists and citizens continued to be arres-ted on the grounds of “insulting the President”. As of the end of May and June, 140 journal-ists, 58 of them convicted, were in prison. The number of journalists in prison decreased to 134, 59 of them convicted and 75 of them remaining in custody or detention, as of the end of July. In August, 15 more journalists were detained, one journalist was convicted, and five media members were prosecuted. Thus, at the end of the second quarter of the year, the num-ber of imprisoned media members reached 149, of which 60 were convicted and 99 remained in custody or detention.

In May, Yeniçağ newspaper writer Yavuz Selim Demirağ and Odatv writer Sabahattin Önkibar were attacked in front of their houses. Journalists İdris Özyol and Engin Çevik in Antalya, and Hakan Denizli in Adana were subjected to violence and the attackers did not receive punishment. These developments display the grave situation of the media and freedom of expression. Violent acts against journalists were condemned by professional organizations such as the Association of Journalists and many NGOs. These institutions emphasized that the release of the attackers would further create an environment of impunity and encourage at-tacks on journalists.

In June, journalist Hayri Demir faced an indictment that included information accessed from a memory card from Demir’s personal computer which was stolen. The release of journ-alist Ayşe Düzkan, who was detained for participating in Özgür Gündem’s (which was shut down via a statutory decree) “Editor-in-Chief on Duty” campaign, and the acquittal of journ-alists Canan Coşkun, who was detained on charges of insulting the President, were some of the positive developments of this period. One of the important judicial decisions of June was the Constitutional Court (AYM) deciding that the detention and arrest of Die Welt corres-pondent Deniz Yücel was not legal. Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN), Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye, contended that Turkey has not been showing a serious effort in preventing violations of rights. Kaye also stated that the pressure on journalists is still in effect, and the “terrorism”

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accusations pointed at journalists has made it impossible to practise the profession.In June, reassignments and new appointments in the Radio and Television Supreme

Council (RTÜK) drew criticism. The construction and renovation of the new RTÜK building in Istanbul was another issue that also attracted criticism.

Another important development in July was the judiciary not being able to establish stare decisis in terms of journalists on trial, as has been the case in the “Cumhuriyet Trial”. The Court of Cassation requested the Office of Chief Public Prosecutor to release Akın Atalay, Orhan Erinç, Murat Sabuncu, Hikmet Çetinkaya, Aydın Engin, Kadri Gürsel, Bülent Utku, Musa Kart, Hakan Karasinir, Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Önder Çelik and Güray Öz of the Cumhuriyet trial. Despite this development, the court upheld the sentences of Ahmet Şık, Yunus Emre İper and Ahmet Kemal. Furthermore, Cumhuriyet writer Işıl Özgentürk was sen-tenced to one year and six months' imprisonment on the charge of “inciting hatred and enmity amongst the people” due to a column Özgentürk had written.

Hüseyin Akyol was sentenced to three years and nine months' imprisonment on the grounds of being co-editor in chief of Özgür Gündem. In another case, on the same grounds, Reporters Without Borders Organization Representative in Turkey Erol Önderoğlu, President of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı and writer Ahmet Nesin were acquitted. However, despite the acquittal, Ahmet Nesin announced that his pass-port was still confiscated and he would renounce his Turkish citizenship. As part of these tri-als, OdaTv editor-in-chief Barış Pehlivan had to serve a prison sentence due to a court case that had been instigated by lawyers of FETÖ leader (Fethullah Terrorist Organization) Fethul-lah Gülen, which caused much controversy.

In July, the agenda was largely defined by the SETA report which was about journalists working for international media organizations or those who contributed content to these or-ganizations. The 196-page report titled “Extension of International Media Organizations in Turkey” was criticized for blacklisting journalists. The report lists information about the journalists working for these organizations and what they shared on their personal social me-dia accounts. SETA team members İsmail Çağlar, Kevser Hülya Akdemir and Seca Toker revealed detailed background information and social media activities about journalists work-ing for BBC Türkçe, DW Türkçe, VOA Türkçe, Sputnik Türkiye, Euronews Türkçe, Independ-ent Türkiye and CRU Türk and labelled these journalists as “anti-government”. The report was considered unacceptable in terms of freedom of expression as it called for the supervision of journalists working for international media organizations and for intervention of their social media accounts.

The report sparked reaction from the Association of Journalists, DİSK Basın-İş Union, ÇGD, TGC, TGS, Haber-Sen, TYS, RSF, Gazeteci Dayanışma Ağı (Journalist Solidarity Net-work), as well as political parties, bars and the European Commission. Association of Journal-ists Chairman Nazmi Bilgin expressed his concerns by saying “It is sad to see the outstanding efforts of our colleagues in trying to let the global community know of the developments in Turkey is being punished and blacklisted instead of being praised. It is also very thought-pro-

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voking and startling that a think-tank has produced and published this embarrassing piece of work. We condemn this.”

Despite causing national and international reaction, the termination of employment con-tracts of some of the journalists targeted in the report raised concerns. Russia-based Sputnik Türkiye terminated the employment of Yavuz Oğhan, İsmail Saymaz and Akif Beki, whose names were mentioned in the report, on the grounds of hosting former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on their radio programme. In addition, journalist Zafer Arapkirli, the host of the “Seyr-i Sabah” program, was also fired. Sputnik Türkiye’s termination policy was criticized for being linked to the close economic-military relations between Turkey and Russia, many commented “the recommendations set out in SETA have been fulfilled”. Pro-government organizations claimed the report exposed the “one-sidedness of the foreign media” on “sensit-ive subjects” such as “July 15 Coup Attempt, PKK terrorism, the arrest of HDP members of parliament, Operation Euphrates Shield, Operation Olive Branch, opening of the Yavuz Sul-tan Selim Bridge and the new Istanbul Airport, and finally the economic turmoil following the pastor Brunson crisis”.

“My media, my journalist …”The July 24th Press Day was celebrated with many critical messages this year, as has

been the case in recent years. The Association of Journalists and other professional organiza-tions stated that July 24th could not be celebrated as a festivity due to the current circum-stances. Meanwhile, on July 24, 2018, the Press Card Commission gathered for the first time following the Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM) being absorbed by the Directorate of Communication on July 25, 2018. This meeting was not disclosed to the public and was held in the context of the new regulations that had been prepared without consulting the sector. The new structure of the Commission was harshly criticized by professional organ-izations and opposition parties for only including pro-government names and for not having given place to professional organization representatives. Professional organizations declared that it is unacceptable for the state or a state-led commission to decide on who a journalist is.

In August, new trials were added to the proceedings targeting media outlets and journal-ists. News platforms Diken and T24 faced investigations on grounds of “aiding a terrorist or-ganization but not being a member” due to publishing content about Twitter account “Fuat Avni”. The account which had a record number of followers was claimed to have been run by FETÖ terrorist organization and allegedly shared backstage information about the political situation of the time. The executives of BirGün newspaper faced litigation due to the same content. Meanwhile, as part of the Cumhuriyet case, calls were made by professional organiz-ations for the release of imprisoned journalists; many voiced their expectations that the “Judi-cial Reform Strategy Document” declared by Erdoğan should enable journalists on trial to be released.

In August, there were acts of violence against journalists that again went unpunished, as has been the case in the past. In this context, Sami Harunlar, the owner of the internet news website Gazetem Barış in Tarsus district of Mersin and Levent Uysal, the owner of the re-cently closed down Yenigün newspaper in Balıkesir, were subjected to armed assault.

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In August, another important development in the media sector was the appointment of new names to the Government Group of 12 people in the General Board of the Press An-nouncement Agency (BİK) comprising of 36 people. Among the new appointees in the Gen-eral Board of the Press Announcement Agency were the SETA Director and Rapporteur, which drew criticism. Erdoğan, prior to appointing these 12 members, had appointed of the General Directorate of Security Council member and SETA Coordinator Burhanettin Duran’s brother Rıdvan Duran to the Head Office of the Press Announcement Agency.

Layoffs Layoffs continued to be a problem in the second quarter of the year. In May, comment-

ators, artists and other qualified staff of 169 people working for TRT were made redundant on the grounds of “excess employment” and were put into the State Personnel Administration “pool”. It has been claimed that the TRT would be bringing in pro-government names after the expulsion of its qualified staff. Following the dissolution of the Directorate General of Press and Information in January, 170 of its senior staff members had been made redundant on the grounds of “excess employment” and were taken into the State Personnel Administration “pool”. In the meantime, 23 people broadcasting in Karnaval Media Group radio stations were laid off. In June, layoffs in the sector continued, particularly in Demirören Media Group. With the closure of BJK TV, the media outlet of Beşiktaş Sports Club, all of its per-sonnel were left unemployed.

Media Arabia, which is entitled to the Arabic, Urdu, Persian and Turkish news sites of the British newspaper The Independent, has laid-off 16 people from its new office in Turkey. In August, layoffs continued under the guise of restructuring in Demirören Media Group, its senior management started to include names from A Haber. Hürriyet Digital Content Director Bülent Ayanoğlu, CNN Türk News Coordinator İrfan Sapmaz and DHA 's editor Orhan Sen-cer were fired. A Haber News Director Murat Yancı was appointed as Editor-in-Chief for CNN Türk. Kubilay Güldek, who was appointed as CNN Türk News Director while working as a news editor for A Haber, was made General Manager of DHA. Meanwhile, Turkish Me-dia Group’s decision to downsize drew attention. The number of employees at the Ankara offices of Akşam and 24 TV were reduced. In addition, it was announced that economy news-paper Dünya, which had been suffering financial difficulties, was sold to former Editor-in-Chief Hakan Güldağ.

Regarding the second quarter of the year in terms of freedom of expression, the prison sentences given to academicians who signed the “Academicians for Peace” declaration re-mained on the agenda. Meanwhile, various civil society organizations led by PEN Interna-tional, criticized the blocking of Wikipedia in Turkey for the last two years. In June, the start of the Gezi Park trial and the decision to continue the detention of businessman Osman Kavala were the main developments that stirred international reaction. Governors of Istanbul, Izmir and Mersin announced they would not be allowing the activities that were to take place during LGBTI+ Pride Week on the grounds of “corrupting public decency and public health”.

In July, CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was subjected to an inquiry initiated by the

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public prosecutor of Ankara for his words “The number one political pillar of FETÖ resides in the Palace [sic]”.

In August, along with the political debate regarding the appointments of state mayors, demonstrations were banned, resulting in international reaction. The Constitutional Court ruled that the rights of the “Academicians for Peace” petition signatories were violated; local courts were expected to revise their decisions. However, human rights organizations criticized the non-compliance of local courts with the Constitutional Court’s decision.

Figure 2 - Cumulative access restrictions / Birikimli erişim engellemeleri

The issue of censorship continuedAccording to the Association of Journalists Press for Freedom (PfF) program team’s

compilation of information gathered from open sources, 37 cases of censorship happened in August; the total of censorship and news intervention cases in the first eight months amounted

Figure 1 - Censorship cases / Sansür vakaları

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to 235. In the same period, the number of journalists who were subjected to legal proceedings was 164. Again, in the same period, a total of 944 news sites and Twitter content were subjec-ted to access restrictions by magistrates.

Press trialsIn terms of press freedom, legal proceedings against journalists did not slow down

between April-August. Again, accusations of “helping a terrorist organization but not being a member” and “insulting the President” were in the foreground.

In May, Istanbul 25. High Criminal Court ruled for the release of Ali Karaçay, Engin Sınağ, Ersin Sedefoğlu and Gönül Gören out of the 23 people facing charges in the court case, which also includes ETHA (Etkin Haber Ajansı) correspondent Adil Demirci. The Constitu-tional Court rejected the individual appeals of Akın Atalay, Murat Sabuncu, Ahmet Şık and Bülent Utku against the charges of “aiding FETÖ organization through changing publication policies” as part of the Cumhuriyet trial. Murat Aksoy, who had received a two-year and one-month sentence in the “FETÖ’s media structure” trial, was given financial compensation of 40.000 TRY due to the Constitutional Court ruling that his “personal freedom and security rights, and freedom of expression rights” had been violated.

During the trial of the shut-down Özgür Gündem newspaper, out of its co-executive editors, editor-in-chief and 20 writers, seven individuals were handed prison sentences from the Istanbul 14. Higher Criminal Court on the grounds of “conducting terrorist propaganda”. In this context, Eren Keskin and Reyhan Çapan were sentenced to three years and nine months each, Hüseyin Aykol was sentenced to two years and one month, and Hüseyin Güçlü and Tahir Temel to one and six months each. Lawyer Ayşe Batumlu and Reyhan Hacıoğlu, who is in prison for another case, were sentenced to one year and three months each, but their provisions were postponed. Journalist-writer Sedef Kabaş announced that she was sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison for “insulting the President”.

Istanbul 36. High Criminal Court sentenced journalist Hasan Cemal to three months and 22 days in prison on the grounds of conducting “terrorist propaganda”. Istanbul 36. High Criminal Court sentenced Cansu Piskin, a former correspondent of Evrensel, to 10 months' imprisonment for her article “Boğaziçililere Özel Savcı” (Special Prosecutor for Boğaziçi Students). Journalist Mustafa Yayla, working in Aydın- Kuşadası, was given a prison sen-tence of 11 months and 20 days on grounds of “insulting President Erdoğan”; his sentence was approved by the Court of Appeals where he was then taken to Torbalı prison.

On the other hand, unlike the charges brought against other journalists, Akit TV presenter Ahmet Keser was sentenced to one year and three months in prison by the 4. Crim-inal Court of First Instance, in Istanbul Küçükçekmece for “inciting hatred and enmity”.

In May, prison sentences as well as the de facto punishment of pre-trial detention re-sumed. In this context, Şırnak 1. High Criminal Court Ruled for the continuation of the deten-tion of Dicle Haber Ajansı (DİHA) correspondent Ziya Ataman, who had been detained since 10 April, 2016.

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Diyarbakır 5. High Criminal Court also ordered the continuation of the detention of Jin News correspondent, Kibriye Evren. Istanbul 35. High Criminal Court decided to continue the detention of Mehmet Gündem, former author of Milliyet, who was on trial for “being a member of a terrorist organization”.

New trials were initiated against the detained DİHA reporter İdris Yılmaz in Van Erciş and the other detained reporter Filiz Zeyrek, of Jin News in Adana, on the allegations of “be-ing a member of a terrorist organization”.

In May, Mezopotamya Ajansı (Mesopotamian Agency) intern correspondent Barış Po-lat, writer Kemal Bozkurt, Medyascope correspondent Canan Coşkun, Mezopotamya Ajansı correspondent İrfan Tuncçelik, BirGün correspondent and journalist Faik Bulut were detained on different grounds.

As part of the Cumhuriyet trial, journalist Kadri Gürsel was sent to Istanbul Metris Prison to initiate proceedings on the provisions of his probation following the finalization of his two years and six months prison sentence on the charges of “knowing and willingly assist-ing a terrorist organization without being a member”, he was later discharged.

In June, Batman 3. High Criminal Court Sentenced DİHA (which was shut down by statutory decree) Diyarbakır representative Kadri Kaya to two years in prison, despite the fact that Kaya had passed away 8 months prior to the decision. Yeniçağ author Yavuz Selim De-mirağ was sent to Ankara Ayaş Prison to serve 11 months and 20 days imprisonment for “in-sulting President Erdoğan”. Istanbul 26. High Criminal Court sentenced journalist Haşim Söylemez to six years and three months in prison. Istanbul 23. High Criminal Court sentenced shut-down Özgürlükçü Demokrasi reporters Hicran Urun, Reyhan Hacıoğlu and İshak Yasul to three years and 45 days in prison for “helping a terrorist organization”. Seven people, in-cluding editors and reporters, were detained during the police operation against ETHA. Diyar-bakır 12. Criminal Court of First Instance filed a lawsuit against Özgür Gazeteciler İnsiyatifi (Independent Journalists Initiative) spokesman Hakkı Boltan and demanded up to six years imprisonment on the grounds of “insulting the President” and “insulting a public official on duty”. Meanwhile, Istanbul 37. High Criminal Court postponed the Sözcü trial to September 4.

It was alleged that the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) filed a criminal complaint against Bloomberg correspondents Kerim Karakaya and Fercan Yalınkılıç, who reported on the economic situation and the depreciation of the lira, along with 36 other people who had shared their opinions on social media. Istanbul 23. High Criminal Court ruled for the release of detained ETHA editor Semiha Şahin and agency reporter Pınar Gayıp.

In July, the Cumhuriyet trial came first among the legal proceedings media members faced. The Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals requested for the acquit-tal and release of then Cumhuriyet Foundation Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors Akın Atalay, Board Chairman Orhan Erinç, Chief Editor Murat Sabuncu, Board of Director member and writer Hikmet Çetinkaya and writer Aydın Engin. Chief Prosecutor stated that these acquittals should also encompass Kadril Gürsel, Bülent Utku, Musa Kart, Hakan Karas-

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inir, Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Önder Çelik and Güray Öz. The Prosecutor's Office demanded that Yunus Emre İper's three-year, one month and 15-day prison sentence and Ahmet Kemal Aydoğdu's 10-year prison sentence be approved. HDP Istanbul member of parliament Ahmet Şık’s seven-year, six-month prison sentence on grounds of “aiding a terrorist organization” was requested to be overruled and instead he should be tried on the allegations of “conducting terrorist propaganda” and “openly insulting state institutes and government bodies”. Istanbul 2. Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced Cumhuriyet writer Işıl Özgentürk to one year and six months' imprisonment on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity among the people”.

Istanbul Çağlayan 14. High Criminal Court sentenced former Editor-in-Chief of Özgür Gelecek Aslı Ceren to six years, 10 months and 15 days in prison while she remained in de-tention in Şanlıurfa T Type Women’s Closed Prison. Istanbul 35. High Criminal Court sen-tenced former Milliyet writer Mehmet Gündem to six years 10 moths and 15 days imprison-ment for “being a member of an armed terrorist organization”. Gündem had been put in pre-trial detention on the grounds of “being a member of FETÖ”.

Journalist Hüseyin Akyol, who received a three year nine month prison sentence by the Istanbul 13. High Criminal Court, was taken to Sincan F Type Close Prison following the approval of his sentence by Istanbul Regional Court 3. Criminal Division.

Istanbul 32. High Criminal Court sentenced Harun Reşit Çümen, the editor-in-chief of Zaman which was shut down by statutory decree, to seven and a half years in prison on charges of “being a member of FETÖ organization”. Yurt newspaper's editor-in-chief Ali Avcu was detained in Bolu and released after his statement was taken.

Criminal court cases tying journalists’ content to terrorist organizations continued in August, this time encompassing online news sites as well. Online news sites T24 and Diken were faced with allegations of “aiding a terrorist organization but not being a member” for publishing news about Twitter account “Fuat Avni”. Istanbul 29. High Criminal Court accep-ted the indictment which foresaw the trial of reporter Seyhan Avşar of Cumhuriyet to be sen-tenced to up to three years of imprisonment for the article “Ex-con Sözcü Prosecutor”.

Istanbul 36. High Criminal Court sentenced journalist Meryem Yildirim to two years, four months and three days in prison for “conducting terrorist propaganda” on the grounds of two tweets shared on the social media website Twitter. Istanbul 32. The High Criminal Court filed a lawsuit against the executives of BirGün on charges of “assisting FETÖ organization without being a member” based on the grounds of publishing news about the shares made from the Twitter account “Fuat Avni” between 2014-2016.

8 people were arrested in Ankara, Mersin and Istanbul; among them were: Pir Haber Ajansı employee Cebrail Arslan, Evrensel writer Ayşegül Tözeren, Özgürlükçü Gelecek cor-respondent Taylan Öztaş and ETHA correspondent Tunahan Turhan.

Impunity Acts of violence against journalists and opposition political figures, and these acts going

unpunished, have become almost routine in the second quarter of 2019. These acts of violence against journalists and political figures of the opposition were covered up without prosecution

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and perpetrators were quickly released after being questioned. This has been viewed as in-centivizing hate-crimes.

Public broadcasting In the first quarter of the year, the Anatolian Agency (AA) was criticized for its in-

creased negative portrayal of opposition parties and their candidates during the 31 March Local Elections, in comparison to previous years. During the 24 June Istanbul Mayoral Elec-tions, the Anatolian Agency met its new opponent. The ANKA news agency, which closed down last year, was resurrected and conducted widespread and effective journalism during election night. As in the March elections, the “freezing of screens” of TRT, and broadcasting election results based on unspecified sources before the official results being declared by the Supreme Electoral Council were also observed in the June elections, but having reduced.

Circulation While the total net newspaper sales of widespread (national) media in January 2018

were 2,593,986, this number decreased to 2,023,928 in January 2019. The total net sales of pro-government newspapers were 1,632,330, while the total net sales of opposition newspa-pers were 391,598. In this table, the share of pro-government newspapers in total newspaper sales was 80.65 percent, while the share of opposition newspapers in total newspaper sales was 19.35 percent. As of the end of April 2019, the total circulation of newspapers was 2,093,717, at the end of August 2019 the total circulation declined to 1,952,010, and this de-cline continued even in official circulation figures. When mainstream media figures are evalu-ated, it adds weight to the accusations that many newspapers are being distributed free of charge.

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Figure 3 - Circulation of pro-government newspapers / Hükümet yanlısı gazete tirajları

Figure 4 - Circulation of critical newspapers / Muhalif gazete tirajları

Net sales of pro-government and opposition newspapers at the end of August 2019 were as follows:

Highest circulating pro-government newspapers: Sabah (264.292), Hürriyet (218.173), Posta (167.929), Türkiye (128.660), Milliyet (125.431), Takvim (104.966), Yeni Şafak (103.103), Güneş (101.860), Akşam (100.971), Star (100.917), Yeni Akit (57.001), Yeni Asır (50.709), Yeni Birlik (31.721), Doğru Haber (13.131) and Karar (10.859).

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Figure 5 - Ratio of pro-government and critical media / Hükümet yanlısı ve eleştirel medya oranı

In April 2019, the circulation of pro-government mainstream media newspapers was: Sabah (275.696), Hürriyet (245.625), Posta (158.756), Türkiye (117.518), Milliyet (125.416), Yeni Şafak (107.230), Güneş (100.333), Takvim (98.373), Star (99.345), Akşam (101.557), Yeni Akit (57.344), Yeni Asır (49.991), Yeni Birlik (31.811), Doğru Haber (13.708) and Karar (11.654). The average circulation of these newspapers in December 2018 was: Sabah (289.897), Hürriyet (271.038), Posta (188.444), Türkiye (128.958), Milliyet (127.098), Yeni Şafak (111.395), Güneş (103.792), Takvim (103.454), Star (103.303), Akşam (102.710), Yeni Asır (51.217), Yeni Akit (51.024), Doğru Haber (22.401) and Karar (12.192)

The circulation of some prominent opposition newspapers in August 2019 were: Sözcü (266.820), Korkusuz (60.745), Cumhuriyet (32.754) and Aydınlık (14.968). In April 2019, the circulation of these newspapers was : Sözcü (266.332), Korkusuz (59.235), Cumhuriyet (34.136) and Aydınlık (20.473). Again, in December 2018, the average circulation of these newspapers was: Sözcü (253.652), Korkusuz (55.204), Aydınlık (50.304), Cumhuriyet (32.438)

Thus, with an approximate circulation of 266 thousand newspapers Sözcü became the highest circulating mainstream newspaper in August 2019.

Journalists in prison Situation in the first quarter: At of the end of January, there were 146 journalists in

prison, 94 of whom were detained and 52 were convicted serving their sentences. At the end of February 138 journalists were in prison, 77 of whom were detained and 51 were convicted serving their sentences. In March it was declared that 133 journalists were behind bars, 82 of whom were detained, and 51 were serving their sentences. By the end of April, the number of journalists in prison climbed to 140, of which 57 of them were convicted.

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Figure 6 - Detained and convicted journalists (2012-2019) / Tutuklu ve hükümlü gazeteciler

The situation in the second quarter: In May and June, a total of 140 journalists, 58 of them convicted, remained prison. By the end of July, the number of imprisoned journalists decreased to 134, of which 59 were convicted serving their sentences and 75 remained in cus-tody or detention.

The number of imprisoned journalists showed a steady decline until August. In August, 15 more journalists were detained, one journalist was sentenced, five media members were prosecuted during various protests. Thus, the number of imprisoned media members reached to 149, including 60 serving sentences and 89 having been arrested or detained.

Positive developments In the second quarter of the year, despite being few there were positive developments in

journalism. In May, “EU-Turkey Media Bridges” project implemented by the Association of Journalists in cooperation with the European Journalists Association (EJ) and financed by the European Union, held its opening meeting. The project aims to establish networks between journalists in Turkey and Europe, to increase the capacity of journalists in reporting on inter-national affairs, contribute to EU-Turkey relations and to demolish prejudice among journal-

Figure 7 - Detained and convicted journalists (2019) / Tutuklu ve hükümlü gazeteciler

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ists. In July, the Constitutional Court ruled that the rights of the “Academicians for Peace”

petition signatories were violated. The academicians were convicted on charges of “conduct-ing terrorist propaganda”, 10 of the academicians made individual appeals to the Constitu-tional Court which ruled that their rights had been violated. Prof. Dr. Füsun Üstel and Assoc. Dr. Tuna Altınel were released from prison.

Observations Between May-August, contact was made with media members, opinion leaders and civil

society representatives in the Press House in Ankara, Ağrı, Bartın, Çanakkale, Erzurum, Gire-sun, Istanbul and Yalova in terms of providing training, holding evaluation meetings and other activities. During these visits, issues regarding mainstream media and local media were discussed extensively, enabling gathering of detailed documentation of developments. In ad-dition, young journalists from various cities were hosted in Ankara where they got the chance to express the problems they experience in the sector. Meanwhile, the joint venture and rights-based activity “Civil Voices Festival” provided a pluralist perspective to developments in freedom of expression.

1. In meetings held in various cities across the country, many expressed that due to the increase in input costs, decrease in circulation, decrease in advertising revenues and decrease in total revenue that journalism is increasingly being practised online rather than through printed press. Contact made in Erzurum revealed that the internet provides a free space for the production and dissemination of original content and news that sheds light on the problems of local media, therefore is a “safe haven that enables pluralism and independence” for local journalists. During the contact in this region, it was stressed that externally financed support programmes must incentivize this “safe-haven” to broaden and deepen and become a sustainable democratic plat-form, In parallel with this discussion, the lack and inadequacy of laws that define rights and responsibilities, including employee rights, in terms of online journalism were discussed. In this context, it was expressed that journalists working in online media have been deprived of the right to a press-card. It was pointed out that the gravest consequences of this legal gap were the lack of a comprehensive definition of digital journalism, news coverage without professional responsibility, and the dissem-ination of false content that is not based on facts which leads to information pollution. During the meetings in different provinces, it became clear that there was an aware-ness of digital media, but there were are not enough resources and opportunities to take the necessary steps to solve the many problems being faced.

2. The lack of media literacy was another key issue that came up frequently during con-tacts. Young journalists in Çanakkale expressed their concerns regarding the dissemin-ation of content based on the same views and appealing to the same sentiments in mainstream media which has led to the creation of “national uniformity and a sensa-tionalist mentality”. Contemporary readers are being shaped by sensationalist content while they incentivize the reproduction of this type of reporting by demanding it, as

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well. Providing consumers with media literacy training may possibly play an import-ant role in preventing this. As a result of contacts with local journalists in Giresun, the negative consequences of sensationalist journalism on local media was exposed. Here, the most important aspect of local journalism for the people was that it notified them of events and developments specific to the region. Sensationalist reporting was criti-cized for bringing in hot topics that have no relation to the developments in the region and supressing regional originality, and for introducing rapid consumerism of metro-politan city life to the local populace. Journalists in Yalova also stated that due to politics dominating the media sector, there is little room to apply the principles of ob-jectivity and multivocality in news production. According to this finding, it has been observed that the “sensationalist mentality” reproduced each day by mainstream me-dia, hot topics of the agenda based on repetition, the dominant political understanding and bias has permeated into the local domain.

3. Another important problem that was emphasized was the lack of coordination among associations and professional journalism organizations across the country which has resulted in inconsistencies in terms of policies and proposal made regarding the media sector. In the meeting in Yalova, it was pointed out by journalists that this has been due to the lack of a central structure to coordinate the production of policy proposals among professional organizations. Similar views were expressed in terms of “lack of unionization” while discussing organizational problems in other cities. It was also doc-umented that there has been conflict in the structures of local associations between journalists acting as employers through newspaper ownership and journalists workings as employees. Due to employers and employees not having aligned interests, em-ployee rights being the main issue, there have been incompatibilities in terms of policy proposal regarding the profession of journalism. Due to this clash, demands made to the government, related authorities and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey have not been based on compromise, and at times have been totally contradictory. It was expressed that this has resulted in the failure to prepare legal arrangements that could meet the views and needs of the base of the media field, at the same time protect journalists’ personal rights and thus enable them to fulfil their responsibilities to the public. Thus, the establishment of legal mechanisms shaped from above that reflect certain political and material interests with the claim of regulating the media sector or journalism, has been defined as an important problem. A consensus was formed around the idea that a more effective struggle should be fought through acting in uni-son both on a national and local level, to deal with both current problems and potential future problems. In this framework, one suggestion of dealing with these problems was to increase cooperation between journalists and professional organizations starting at a local level moving to the centre, and to initiate more events.

Evaluation Informing the public about developments is indispensable for a democracy to function

properly. Since informed decision making cannot be practised without the freedom of polit-ical discussion, and since without informed decision making a democracy cannot exist, free-

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dom of the press and freedom of expression are indispensable for a free democratic society.In contemporary democratic societies based on the right to informed decision making,

the public’s right to access information and freedom of the press and expression are con-sidered basic rights such as the right to live. The right to use this freedom, which now in-cludes the use of social media, is legally guaranteed by both national and international regula-tions and conventions. Despite this, it is harrowing to see that Turkey has ranked extremely poor in several reports published by many international organizations regarding this freedom.

Not being able to produce news based on the public’s right to know due to restrictions on freedom of the press and expression and increasing political and capital pressures; the in-accessibility of our colleagues to notably television screens, news portals and newspapers striving to perform their duty to be critical and refusing to present the news in a certain polit-ical context, are considered to be the biggest problems of our day.

Laws that restrict freedom of the press and expression, and decrees and accreditation walls have made it impossible for journalists to inform the public in a timely and accurate manner. Therefore, the public’s right to access news has been seriously violated in Turkey.

Considering that journalists act as supervisors on behalf of the public, the media has often been jokingly referred to as the “fourth power” in democracies; in this context “opposi-tional” media organizations working in television, printed press and the internet, and intellec-tuals and columnist invoking their right to criticize, must be “tolerated”.

Unfortunately, cases of censorship and self-censorship have also been increasing in Tur-key. While most media organizations in Turkey have “accommodated” government policies through their managements, the remaining critical media organizations that are declining in number have been silenced through alienation, accusations and oppression. It is impossible for a democracy to flourish and sustain itself in a media climate that lacks the possibility of other groups, minority views and criticisms to be expressed.

When legal proceedings targeting journalists are observed, it is worth noting that defini-tions of “terrorism” and “being a member of a terrorist organization” must be revised. Com-prehensive and ambiguous accusations such as “inciting violence” or “aiding a terrorist organ-ization to accomplish its goals without being its member” have rendered it impossible to com-prehend what these accusations entail, under what conditions journalism can be practised, and when and what can be accepted as news by the current judicial perspective. Therefore, estab-lishing legal definitions in accordance with freedom of the press and expression, and journal-istic principles to curtail legal proceedings targeting journalism under “terrorism” remains important in Turkey. Restriction of “inciting violence and terrorism” by governments respons-ible for protecting their countries and people is considered an understandable necessity. But in Turkey, "promoting terrorism and violence” lacks a clear definition. Therefore, it is often found in international reports that these restrictions are imposed on journalism and public dis-closure in an effort to silence criticism against the government, rather than being related to violence.

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Although the number of journalists in prisons has been declining since mid-2018, the fact that 140 journalists are in custody as of end of August 2019, and the presence of a large number of exiled journalists abroad, both undermine the reputation of the country and is a cause for concern of its the future. Journalists are simply blacklisted for what they write, say, draw or talk about, and even worse they are being labelled for having worked for certain me-dia organizations in the past, and are being put into prison on the basis of “aiding a terrorist organization in accomplishing its goals without being its member”. These developments are harrowing and unacceptable.

The articles that allow for the restriction of the freedom of the press and expression in the legal legislation, notably the Anti-Terror Law, adversely affect the climate of freedom in the country. Despite the work done in the context of “judicial reform” it was observed that there have been new legal proceedings targeting journalists in the first eight months of 2019, considering there have been additional cases and appeals to be released pending trial have been rejected, it is clear why Turkey has been heavily criticized in international reports focus-ing on freedom of the press. Turkey continues to be world leader in the number of imprisoned journalists in the eyes of the global community. Turkey has been once again considered an “un-free” country in the 2019 report of Freedom House, as was the case in the 2018 Freedom House report. While Turkey had received 32 points and remained at the bottom of the list of “un-free” countries in 2018, in the 2019 report its points decreased to 31.

In the context of rule of law, where being on trial without detention is considered to be the norm and pre-trial detention being the exception, where journalism is not considered a crime, all journalist should be released, continue their trials out of prison and be acquitted.

Regional and global developments have made our country face the most severe and complex problems in its history. In addition to its chronic problems, the number of refugees, which are close to four million due to security concerns created by the threat of cross-border war and terrorism, is causing serious problems for our country and our nation. In such an en-vironment, the apathy of a significant portion of the media is conspicuous. The media, which is mostly uniform, monophonic and supportive of the government, has created a media envir-onment that is far from the pluralism required by democracy today. However, a limited num-ber of media outlets are trying to defend freedom of the press and expression with the belief that “without a free press there can be no free society”.

Pluralism, the rule of law, the equal protection of all, freedom of the press and expres-sion transparency and accountability are accepted as the pillars of contemporary societies and democracies. These qualities are the prerequisites for democratic governance and the modern-ity of a people as well as being the measure of quality of life and awareness of citizenship.

It is clear that solidarity between media organizations and convicted/imprisoned journ-alists will help to overcome problems faced today. Leaving aside the debate about who a journalist is, all media members who earn their lives through journalism and writing, whether you agree with their ideas or not, should be considered journalists without discrimination. International definition and perception are in this direction. It is wrong and unacceptable to

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revoke press-cards or to try and paint a different picture by declaring individuals as “not being journalists” and to portray all journalists in prison as “terrorists”, “thieves” and even “rapists”.

In modern democracies freedom of the press and expression do not mean to say things that everyone agrees with or likes, or to praise governments for their every act; it is to have a critical and supervisory view of those in power on behalf of the public and its interest. Indeed, the ECHR has ruled many times within the scope of the European Convention on Human Rights that freedom of the press and expression “is not only valid for news and ideas that are considered to be favourable, harmless or not worthy of concern; but for news and ideas that are against the state or part of the population, that are striking or considered disturbing, as well.” The Court notes that, as a rationale for this view, that views and news in contrary to the majority of the population or the state are necessary for “diversity, tolerance and open mindedness” and “without these principles a democratic society is impossible”.

It must be acknowledged that the ECHR and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and international law persistently rule that enjoyment of rights and freedoms cannot be discriminated against on the basis of gender, race, colour, language, religion, political belief or other faith, national or social origin, property, belonging to an ethnic minority, birth or any other statues. Since the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey states that if international law conflicts with domestic law, the rules of international law must be adopted, therefore these provisions precede the constitution for us.

As stated in many of the Press for Freedom reports, the usage of public power and goods to pass media institutions into other hands and to take media organizations under direct control have resulted in many journalists being arrested and being subjected to prosecution, becoming the world leader in the number of imprisoned journalists, and censorship and self-censorship to increase. Similarly, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, Press An-nouncement Agency and other supreme boards, who have jurisdiction over media organiza-tions and social media, have been used by the government to further its interests. This contin-ues to narrow the area of freedom.

Studies examining the situation in the media have revealed that media organizations, especially at the local level, have been taken under control of the political power via publicly linked company advertisement revenues and Public Advertisement Administration (BİK) ad-vertisements. Many media institutes and organizations, including the Association of Journal-ists, have been subjected to supervision, tax penalties and administrative sanctions of the political power, which have recently become routine “disciplinary” practises.

One of the most important problems of the press in Turkey is media ownership. Rela-tions between media employers, who are active in other business sectors, and the government based on tenders etc. significantly affect the media sector and press freedom.

As the Association of Journalists underlined in its reports, is that the main problem sur-rounding the press in Turkey is that journalists are without unions and organizations due to de-unionization policies. Independent journalism cannot be protected as long as journalists do not have job security, or are not protected by professional solidarity and are open to all kinds of oppression while trying to make ends meet whether it be paying rent, school expenses of

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their children or other expenses. Journalists, while fulfilling their duty of informing the public accurately and in a timely fashion, must protect their job security and unions, they should not deal with the smear campaigns of politicians, and should not be left at the mercy of their em-ployers.

Figure 8 - Unionization in Turkish media (2019 figures are as of end of August - 2019 rakamları Ağustos it-ibarıyladır. Kaynak/Source: TGS) / Türk medyasında sendikalaşma

Conclusion It is only possible to overcome the problems that have been mentioned in the Associ-

ation of Journalists’ reports by protecting national unity and integrity by avoiding discrimina-tion and marginalization.

One of Turkey’s oldest professional organizations, ever since it was founded in 1946 the Association of Journalists has been fully aware of its responsibilities in terms of freedom of the press and expression, it has strived to solve problems surrounding journalism and journalists while increasing unity and solidarity among press members in order to overcome the troubles we face, together.

Our Association believes that freedom of the press and expression are the greatest assur-ances of overcoming the major problems our country faces. An environment where ideas can be freely expressed will strengthen national resistance and help overcome these problems.

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Abbreviations

AA : Anatolian AgencyEU : European UnionADD : AtatürkistThought AssociationADEF : European Federation of Democratic Dersim

AssociationsAEJ : Association of European JournalistsAFP: Agence France PresseOSCE: Organization for Security and Coopera-

tion in EuropeAI : Amnesty InternationalECHR : European Court of Human RightsECHR : European Convention on Human RightsAKP : Justice and Development Party (AK Party)PACE : Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of

EuropeANF : Fırat News AgencyAP agency : Associated PressEP : European ParliamentATGB : European Union of Turkish JournalistsATV : Active Television / Current TelevisionAU : Ankara UniversityAYM : Constitutional CourtBBC: British Broadcasting CorporationBDP : Peace and Democracy PartyBİA : Independent NetworkRCC : Press Ad AgencyUN : United NationsBMO : Chamber of Computer EngineersBSM : Independent Cinema CenterBTK : Information and Communication Technolo-

gies AuthorityBYEGM : General Directorate of Press and

InformationCİSST : Civil Society Association in Criminal

Execution SystemCHP : Republican People's PartyCKD : Republican Women's AssociationCNN : Cable News NetworkCPJ : Committee to Protect JournalistsÇGD : Progressive Journalists AssociationÇHD : Progressive Lawyers AssociationDBP : Party of Democratic RegionsDAESH : Islamic State of Iraq and the LevantDEDEF : Dersim Associations FederationDHA : Demirören News Agency (formerly Doğan

News Agency)DHKP-C : Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-

FrontDİHA : Dicle News AgencyDISC : Revolutionary Workers Unions Confedera-

tion of TurkeyDJU : Deutscher Journalistenverband (German

Journalists Association)DMD : Association of Diplomatic ReportersDW: Deutsche WelleEBU : The European Broadcasting UnionECOSOC : United Nations Economic and Social

CouncilEFJ : European Federation of JournalistsEJ: European Journalists AssociationEMD : Association of Economic ReportersEMEP : Labor Party

EMO : Chamber of Electrical EngineersESB : Association of Access ProvidersESP : Socialist Party of the OppressedETHA : Active News AgencyFETÖ: Fetullahist Terrorist OrganizationFKF : Federation of Idea ClubsFNST : Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Friedrich

Naumann Foundation for Freedom)GC : Association of Journalists (Ankara)JUNE : United June MovementHDK : Peoples Democratic CongressHDP : People's Democratic PartyHKP : People's Liberation PartyHRW : Human Rights WatchHSYK : High Council of Judges and ProsecutorsIFJ : International Federation of JournalistsILO : International Labor OrganizationİGC : İzmir Journalists AssociationUAV : İhlas News AgencyİHD : Human Rights AssociationIHH : Humanitarian Relief FoundationITUC : International Trade Union ConfederationIPI : International Press InstituteISIS : Islamic State of Iraq and DamascusITU : Istanbul Technical UniversityOHS : Occupational Health and Safety AssemblyIWMF : International Women's Media FoundationKADEM : Women and Democracy AssociationKCK : Koma Civakên Kurdistan (Kurdistan

Communities Union)KESK : Confederation of Public Workers UnionKHK: Statutory DecreeTRNC : Turkish Republic of Northern CyprusKRT : Culture TVKTGB : Turkish Cypriot Journalists AssociationLGBTI + : Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual,

Intersex +M4D : Media for Democracy / Democracy for

MediaMA : Mesopotamian AgencyMLSA : Media and Legal Studies AssociationMASAK: Financial Crimes Investigation BoardMAZLUMDER : Solidarity Association for the

OppressedMEB: Ministry of National EducationNSC : National Security CouncilMHP : Nationalist Movement PartyMIT : National Intelligence OrganizationNATO : North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationNPC : National Press ClubMETU : Middle East Technical UniversityOIS : Open Society InstituteÖGC : Association of Free JournalistsÖGİ : Free Journalists InitiativeOHAL : State of EmergencyÖDP : Freedom and Solidarity PartyÖHP : Lawyers for Freedom PlatformÖiB : Press for FreedomONO : Organization of News Ombudsmen and

Standards Editors

PDY : Parallel Government StructurePEN: International Association of Poets, Play-

wrights, Editors, Essayists and NovelistsPKK : Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê (Kurdistan

Workers' Party)PM : Party AssemblyPMD : Parliament Reporters AssociationPSAKD : Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural AssociationPYD : Partiya Yekitiya Democrat (Democratic

Unity Party)RSF : Reporters Without BordersRTÜK : Radio and Television Supreme CouncilSCF : Stockholm Center for FreedomSEGBİS : Audio and Video Information SystemSODAP : Socialist Solidarity PlatformSP : Felicity PartyNon-Governmental OrganisationTAZ: DieTageszeitungTBB : Turkish Medical AssociationTBA : The Union of Bar Associations of TurkeyParliament : Grand National Assembly of TurkeyTDK : Turkish Language AssociationTEM : Anti-TerrorismTGC : Turkey Journalists' SocietyRSO : Turkey Journalists ConfederationTGRT : Turkey Radio and Television NewspaperTGS : Journalists’ Union of TurkeyTKH : Turkey Communist MovementTİB : Presidency of Telecommunication and

CommunicationTIHV : Human Rights Foundation of TurkeyTYPE : Workers Party of TurkeyTJA : Tevgera Jinen Azad (Free Women's Move-

ment)CAP : Communist Party of TurkeyTMMOB : Union of Chambers of Turkish Engin-

eers and ArchitectsSDIF : Savings Deposit Insurance FundTRT : Turkey Radio and Television CorporationTAF : Turkish Armed ForcesTÜBİTAK: The Scientific and Technological

Research Council of TurkeyTUGADER : Tuzla Journalists AssociationTÜİK: Turkey Statistical InstituteTÜRGEV : Turkey Youth and Education Services

FoundationTYB : Turkey Publishers AssociationTYS : Writers Union of TurkeyUAÖ: Amnesty InternationalUMED : International Media Information Associ-

ationUNESCO : United Nations Educational, Scientific

and Cultural OrganizationUSOM : National Center for Intervention in Cyber

EventsVP : Homeland PartyVPN : Virtual Private NetworkYARSAV : Association of Judges and ProsecutorsYSK : High Election BoardYÖK : Higher Education CouncilYPG : Yekîneyên Parastina Gel (People's Protection

Units)

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