  Turkey sacked 900 journalists since January: report May 16, 2016 - 15:23 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Turkish government has dismissed hundreds of journalists so far this year and blocked tens of thousands of websites since mid-2015, says an association for journalists in Turkey, according to Press TV. According to the report by the Press for Freedom Project (ÖiB), which is affiliated with the Turkish Journalists’ Association (TGC), at least 160 journalists were sacked in April alone, raising the number of dismissed journalists in Turkey to a total of 894 since January. The report also set the number of blocked websites at 104,904 since the Turkish general election in June 2015. Moreover, a total of 33 reporters were arrested from January to April, it further said, adding that 12 journalists faced charges over “insulting" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The report also highlighted the case of Can Dundar, the editor-in-chief of center-left Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, who was given five years and 10 months of jail terms on May 6, while the paper's Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul, was given a five-year prison sentence, both over charges “leaking state secrets.” “Journalists chase news. Treating journalists and newspaper managers, who search for, write and publish news, as “terrorists” or “spies” displays the state of freedoms in the country in question,” the report said, according to Press TV. Freedom is a “must” for the press and the citizens’ involvement in politics is possible only through a free media, said chair of the TGC, Nazmi Bilgin, during a press conference, in which the findings of the report were announced with emphasis on the importance of press freedom to enable a modern, democratic society. Turkey has been under fire for clamping down on journalists since Erdogan came to power in 2014, after serving as a premier over a decade. In 2015, nearly 800 Turkish journalists were sacked, 156 others were detained, and court cases were opened against 238 members of the press, according to the Republican People's Party deputy head, Sezgin Tanrıkulu.   Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads.   Partner news |  Latest news Pashinyan: We must stop searching for homeland, we have found that homeland  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has shared a message on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.Erdogan wants “realistic road map” for relations with Armenia Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a “new realistic road map” for relations with Armenia.Armenia-Azerbaijan: Experts launch work on determining coordinates Expert groups from the countries started the process of determining the coordinates based on geodetic measurements.Yerevan says did not expect CSTO in peacekeeping role Pashinyan has declared that the CSTO would be expected to come to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as an ally of Armenia |
