Minority press problems discussed in Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - Editors-in-chief of minority newspapers in Turkey discussed self-censorship problems along with economic difficulties during a meeting with the visiting EU mission during an Istanbul, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The meeting was attended by EU Delegation to Turkey First Counselor Michael Miller, Political Officer of the European External Action Service Sema Kılıçer and the editors-in-chief of daily Greeknewspaper Apoyevmatini, Armenian dailies Marmara and Jamanag, Armenian weekly Agos, Jewish weekly Şalom, and Syriac monthly Sabro.

“Freedom of expression and press censorship in Turkey were in the focus. I spoke on the causes that lead to the censorship of the minority press, underlining that minority newspapers are self-censoring themselves because of their fears,” Mihalis Vasiliadis, the editor-in-chief of daily Apoyevmatini, said.

“Another kind of censorship mechanism is the one imposed by the dominant groups of the minority communities. Since we are financially dependent on them, we cannot release critical news reports,” Vasiliadis said.