Alwaght- Turkey has fired at least 774 journalists and detained 156 others in 2015, according to a senior member of the country's main opposition party.
Sezgin Tanrıkulu, the Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy, stated on Monday that the country's judicial authorities have also filed 500 cases against Journalists in the last year, while 200 workers of press and seven media companies were investigated.
Recalling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Sunday message on respect for press freedom, Tanrıkulu said the message should be embraced by everybody, adding, however, that the current situation in Turkey resembles one in which democracy is “bankrupt.”
There has been growing concern about deteriorating press freedom in Turkey and, in particular, over the number of journalists facing legal proceedings on accusations of insulting or criticizing top officials.
Many media reports in recent months have revealed Ankara’s role in providing support to the terror groups active in Syria.
In June last year, center-left Turkish daily Cumhuriyet released a video, implicating the country’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) in assisting the ISIS terrorists operating against the Syrian government.
Irked by the revelations, the Turkish president threatened that Can Dundar, the daily’s editor-in-chief, would “pay a heavy price” for publishing the video.
Also in June 2015, Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman revealed that Ankara allows Daesh terrorists to freely walk on the streets of the Akcakale border district in the Turkish province of Şanlıurfa.
Turkey ranked 149th out of 180 countries in the press freedom index, released by the international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders in February 2015.
