Many journalists in Turkey are being persecuted and kept in jail all over the country. Journalism is not a crime. Free them all. NAME-SURNAME INSTITUTUION POSITION 1 Ali Tarakçı Journalist 2 Ali Ünal Zaman Columnist 3 Erdal Süsem Eylül Sanat Edebiyat Dergisi Editor 4 Erol Zavar Odak Dergisi Owner/Editor-in-Chef 5 Fatih Ergin Nefes Gazetesi Journalist…
The Final Obstacle to Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Expression: Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code The Freedom of the Press Report, prepared by the Turkish Journalists’ Union, has been published for the seventh time. The report provides a comprehensive overview of human rights violations targeting journalists and media organizations between April…
Journalism is a profession that brings one face-to-face with life’s most difficult moments and requires one to keep one’s own voice quiet while striving to be the voice of society. Years of economic uncertainty, a climate of repression, digital harassment, and job insecurity are compounding the challenges inherent to the profession, creating conditions that strain…
The TGS Press Freedom Report was prepared to identify and expose all aspects of interventions against the press during the one-year period from April 2024 to April 2025. Under the heading ‘Journalists in Prison and Under House Arrest, Arrests and Releases’, the report includes a list of journalists in prison, the distribution of charges against…
Since 2019, the TGS delegation has been prevented from visiting journalists in prison. Most recently, our request to visit journalist Elif Akgül, who is imprisoned in Bakırköy Women’s Closed Prison, was rejected by Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office without any justification. We were told verbally that the visit was not appropriate because Akgül is being…
This year, the main theme of our report is the poverty of journalists. We wanted to share in our report the extent of the poverty faced by journalists who are forced to work for low wages, long hours, and without a union. While editorial independence is one pillar of press freedom, the other pillar is…
Journalists need a professional identification document to introduce themselves or to enter locations where access is restricted in order to cover news. The International Press Card (IPC) has been meeting this need in more than 130 countries since 1927. The IPC is granted to people who engage in journalism professionally, in accordance with journalistic principles…
Repression, arrests, censorship, and attacks… Journalists in Turkey are not free on May 3rd, World Press Freedom Day. The 2022-2023 Press Freedom Report, prepared by the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), aims to identify any interference with press freedom over the past year and provide insight into the economic and social rights of journalists. This…
43% of journalists in Turkey subjected to censorship due to political reasons.
As seven leading journalism organizations in Turkey, we are concerned that a bill on disinformation could lead to one of the heaviest censorship and self-censorship mechanisms in the history of the Republic. The bill, which was prepared behind closed doors by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has…
TGS Press Freedom Report 2022-2023 “Freedom of the Press for All: Side by Side”. Violations of rights targeting journalists, obstructions to news reporting, pressures on media institutions… On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, journalists cannot wield their pens freely. As in previous years, the 2021-2022 Press Freedom Report, prepared by the Journalists’ Union of…
We are ending the strike we started with our members’ decision on 14 January 2022, following a one-year agreement with the BBC reached through a joint decision on 28 January. Before the strike, the employer came to the table offering a 10% raise and almost no other complementary rights. At the end of the strike,…
Journalists at the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Istanbul bureau launched a strike on Jan. 14, citing the injustice by the London-based international media organization’s management displayed during the failed negotiations for a collective labor agreement with Turkey’s Journalists’ Union (TGS). Talks for a collective labor agreement between TGS and BBC had ended without a deal…
Turkey’s Journalists’ Union (TGS) has hanged a decision to strike at the Istanbul office of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Talks for a collective labor agreement between TGS and BBC ended without a deal this week, as the union declared on Dec. 7 that the strike was imminent at the Turkish branch of the British…
Since its foundation in 1952, The Journalists’ Union Of Turkey has been a labor syndicate fighting for journalists’ economic, social, and editorial independence. As a union, TGS has always been working hard to provide solutions via dialogue. On the other hand, our Union is always ready to face any challenge to protect and advance the…
Turkey’s Journalists’ Union (TGS) has hanged a decision to strike at the Istanbul office of Agence France-Press (AFP), a global news agency. The three-month talks for a collective labor agreement between TGS and AFP ended with no deal this week, the union said in a statement on Sept. 10, declaring that “the employer’s representatives turned a…
The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and undersigned partner organisations are concerned about and condemn recent statements by Turkish President Erdoğan and other government officials pertaining to the introduction of new regulation of so-called fake news and “foreign-funded” news in the country. Officials’ targeting several critical and independent media outlets for securing funds abroad is…
Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) marked World Press Freedom Day with a resounding awareness campaign that reached millions of people through online and offline media on May 3. The TGS campaign was entitled #basinbelada (The press is in trouble) as a play on the lyrics of a popular song. More than 200 billboards in Istanbul,…
Violations of journalists’ human rights, restrictions on reporting and oppression of media outlets in Turkey continue. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to speak of progress on May 3 World Press Freedom Day. Prepared by Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), this report surveys incidents that took place between April 1, 2020 and April 1, 2021. An analysis of reports…
Ayşegül Doğan has become the latest journalist in Turkey who was sentenced to prison by a court in a controversial case condemned by human rights groups. The 9th Penal Court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır convicted Doğan on Dec. 7 for “establishing and managing an armed organization,” sentencing her to six years and three…
