NEWS CENTER - According to CPJ's report, Turkey is among the top five countries with the highest number of journalists arrested this year.

 

According to the report of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), as of December 1, 2022, 363 journalists were imprisoned around the world. This figure is 20 percent higher than last year's record. According to the report, while the number of journalists imprisoned in Turkey was 18 in 2021, this number increased to 40 in 2022. 25 Free Press employees, who were detained after being detained as part of the investigations carried out in Diyarbakır and Ankara, are among the journalists in question. The report said: "While fewer journalists have been jailed this year than after the 2016 coup attempt, the independent media in Turkey has been severely damaged by government shutdowns, takeovers, and the forced exile or layoff of many journalists."

 

KURDISH JOURNALISTS

 

Özgür Öğret, CPJ Turkey Director, spoke to VOA Turkish about the report. Describing the report as "a photograph taken about the freedom of the press in Turkey", öğret said: "When we look at the first half of this year, arrests of new journalists were rare in Turkey. There were arrests; for example, Sedef Kabaş was detained for about two months and İbrahim Haskoloğlu was detained for a week. In fact, Nedim Türfent was released; however, two investigations based in Diyarbakır and Ankara changed course. These two investigations were almost as extensive as the operations carried out against the Kurdish press as part of the KCK operations in the early 2010s. I was in Diyarbakır very soon. There are concerns that the operations will continue during the election period as well. The journalists arrested after the operation in June are still waiting for an indictment. The indictment has not been revealed for six months, and the reason why this time has been stolen from the lives of these journalists is not explained."