'You cannot censor a free press': thousands of Turks take to the streets for press freedom
Thousands of people, including many journalists, took to the streets in Turkey today for press freedom. Journalists' associations and the New Party (an opposition party) had called for demonstrations in ten cities across the country. "You cannot censor a free press," the demonstrators shouted.
The reason for the demonstrations is censorship, pressure on journalists, and the takeover of several channels by the government, the organizers say. In twenty months, at least five channels have been taken over. These are not all opposition channels and the reasons for the takeovers vary. Still, there are fears that the independence of journalism will come under even more pressure.
Last week, there was a police raid at the popular opposition channel Halk TV. Subsequently, the channel was placed under the management of a trustee. Since then, reruns have been broadcast. The channel briefly continued online, but the X account with 3 million followers has been blocked and no new videos have been uploaded on YouTube for three days.
The Turkish Public Prosecutor suspects the chairman of the channel of bribery, money laundering, and fraud, but the opposition says the raid is politically motivated and intended to silence critical voices in the country.
'More police officers than demonstrators'
"There is a culture of fear in Turkey," says a woman who is a member of the New Party and prefers to remain anonymous. She fears that if her name becomes known, she or her family could get into trouble.
"Expressing criticism has consequences, we see that. Just look around and see how many police officers are here now. There are more officers than demonstrators."
Yet she is determined to participate. She holds a newspaper in her hands.
"A journalist from the Turkish newspaper Birgun is imprisoned because of an article he wrote. With this newspaper in my hands, I call attention to press freedom in Turkey," she says. She explains that now more than ever, people in Turkey must show solidarity with the press.
According to Reporters Without Borders, Turkey is among the countries with the worst scores in terms of press freedom. Several journalists are also imprisoned. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Turkish government uses the disinformation law to intimidate journalists.
This law punishes, among other things, the spreading of false information concerning domestic and foreign security. This year, according to the organization, sixteen people have been arrested for spreading disinformation.
Major stock market scandal
Another demonstrator, who is also a journalist, notices that journalists are increasingly being suppressed. According to him, Halk TV was taken over because the opposition channel reported on a major stock market scandal.
"A colleague of ours is imprisoned for that," he says, "because he asked about money that was siphoned off from the people. Because he did his job."
Turkey was shaken last month when it became known that 455,000 Turkish savers had lost their savings, while others made tens of millions of dollars in profits. The media compared it to a pyramid scheme. People at the top of the ruling AK party, such as the vice chairman, were also mentioned. She has since resigned pending a criminal investigation.
For the future
Retired journalists also took to the streets today. "I am old, but I am here for the future, for my young colleagues," says a 70-year-old woman in Istanbul.
She is pessimistic about the future because, in her opinion, it should have been busier in the city that has at least 15 million inhabitants. "Everyone should have gone out today, as far as I am concerned, to support the journalists."