Journalists, NGO representatives and members of civil society hold a display of solidarity for colleagues imprisoned in Turkey following an event at the Presseclub Concordia in Vienna on Feb. 22, 2017.
One-hundred-fifty journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey, the world’s leading jailer of journalists. The vast majority of those held were detained – many arbitrarily and without formal charges – as part of a sweeping government crackdown on independent media following the July 2016 coup attempt. At the same time, government pressure on Turkey’s judicial system has compromised the separation of powers and the rule of law, leaving journalists unable to effectively defend their constitutional rights in court.
In April 2017 Turkey will hold a referendum on constitutional changes that would vastly expand the power of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Panellists will examine the media crackdown in Turkey from their first-person perspectives and discuss the coming challenge proposed constitutional changes in the referendum may pose to media freedom. The discussion will analyse the role that the European Union can play in protecting fundamental rights in Turkey and will serve as a networking platform to further strengthen relationships of solidarity between the journalistic and legal communities in Austria and Turkey, and Europe at large.
At the conclusion of the discussion, attendees will be invited to join in a gesture of solidarity with journalists imprisoned in Turkey as part of IPI’s #freeturkeyjournalists campaign.
This event was held with the support of the Swedish Consulate in Istanbul and the European Commission.