The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have called on the newly appointed US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to raise press freedom concerns with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during Mr Kerry’s visit to Turkey on Friday.

In a letter to Secretary Kerry, WAN-IFRA, the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers, highlighted the plight of jailed journalists in Turkey and called for greater press freedoms and the end to the use of criminal charges to punish journalists simply for doing their jobs.

Turkey has more journalists in its jails than any other country in the world.

“Turkey’s position as the world’s largest jailer of journalists is simply unacceptable,” said the WAN-IFRA letter. “A country so often hailed as the democratic example for the aspirations of an entire region, one with such a history-rich and high caliber press, cannot condone the imprisonment of journalists.”

Turkey denies jailing journalists and often instead claims they are ‘terrorists’. The international community has firmly rejected this contention.

Evidence published in an October 2012 report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists suggests authorities “have conflated the expression of political views the government finds offensive with outright terrorism.” There are at least 49 journalists in Turkish jails, according to the CPJ report.

Turkey’s restrictive legal environment, and its sweeping national security measures and anti-terrorism legislation, are frequently deployed against journalists to silence critical voices.

Having written to Turkish authorities over a range of issues in recent years, WAN-IFRA is urging Secretary Kerry to raise the issue of press freedom and “to seek the freedom of all journalists imprisoned for their writing as a matter of urgency.” 

Read the full letter http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/72798/

More on WAN-IFRA and WEF press freedom initiatives can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have called on the newly appointed US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to raise press freedom concerns with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during Mr Kerry’s visit to Turkey on Friday.

In a letter to Secretary Kerry, WAN-IFRA, the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers, highlighted the plight of jailed journalists in Turkey and called for greater press freedoms and the end to the use of criminal charges to punish journalists simply for doing their jobs.

Turkey has more journalists in its jails than any other country in the world.

“Turkey’s position as the world’s largest jailer of journalists is simply unacceptable,” said the WAN-IFRA letter. “A country so often hailed as the democratic example for the aspirations of an entire region, one with such a history-rich and high caliber press, cannot condone the imprisonment of journalists.”

Turkey denies jailing journalists and often instead claims they are ‘terrorists’. The international community has firmly rejected this contention.

Evidence published in an October 2012 report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists suggests authorities “have conflated the expression of political views the government finds offensive with outright terrorism.” There are at least 49 journalists in Turkish jails, according to the CPJ report.

Turkey’s restrictive legal environment, and its sweeping national security measures and anti-terrorism legislation, are frequently deployed against journalists to silence critical voices.

Having written to Turkish authorities over a range of issues in recent years, WAN-IFRA is urging Secretary Kerry to raise the issue of press freedom and “to seek the freedom of all journalists imprisoned for their writing as a matter of urgency.” 

Read the full letter http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/72798/

More on WAN-IFRA and WEF press freedom initiatives can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.