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Media Freedom

Turkey: Security unit blacklists 20 journalists including Yunus Erdogdu

The partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) expressed solidarity with the 20 journalists blacklisted by the Turkish General Directorate of Security (EGM) for their writing and joined the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) in denouncing an apparent attempt to intimidate independent journalists and trade unionists.

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On September 5th, the Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) revealed that the General Directorate of Security (EGM) in Turkey had blacklisted 20 journalists for their writings in the online magazine Journalist Post. Among the listed journalists is Yunus Erdoğdu, the general director of the Ukrainian news website Ukraynahaber.com.

No legal action has been taken against the journalists, but the confidential document containing the blacklist was discovered during the trial of MA editor-in-chief Dicle Müftüoğlu on terrorism charges. The list was compiled based on intelligence information collected against the Fethullah Gülen movement and used by anti-terrorism police departments. The EGM Foreign Relations Department of the Turkish Police classified Journalist Post as being run by a Fethullah Gülen-linked network.

Journalist Post is a periodical run by journalists living in exile, publishing articles, interviews, news and analysis in Turkish, English and German. Four magazine issues have been published since 2020 as part of a solidarity campaign for freedom of expression and press freedom worldwide.

The list of journalists includes their names, ID numbers, positions, and whether they have an entry with their ID numbers on the National Judiciary Network (UYAP). The listed journalists have been involved in running the magazine or contributing to it, and among them are EFJ Vice-President Mustafa Kuleli and journalists from various media outlets in Turkey.

The listed journalists are: Engin Sağ, Şemsi Açıkgöz, Mustafa Kılıç, Yüksek Durgut, Ramiz Kılıçarslan, Necdet Çelik, Hasan Cücük,  İsmail Muhammet Sağıroğlu, Enes Cansever,  Basri Doğan, Türkmen Terzi, Vedat Demir, Rabia Yavuz Türe, Yunus Erdoğdu, Naciye Nur Kılıç, Erkan Pehlivan, Erkin Emet, Dicle MüftüoğluDicle Fırat (Journalists Association DFG Co-chairperson), Mustafa Kuleli (General Secretary of Journalists Union of Turkey and EFJ Vice-President) and Gökhan Durmuş (President of Journalists Union of Turkey).

The Turkish government’s targeting of journalists is concerning and has drawn criticism from various media freedom advocacy groups. Thirty-eight journalists and media workers are still imprisoned in Turkish jails for doing their job in the public interest. The organisations signed a joint statement calling on the Turkish authorities to stop the repression of media freedom advocates and halt the legal proceedings against the blacklisted journalists.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), ARTICLE 19 Europe, the International Press Institute (IPI), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), and OBC Transeuropa have all signed the statement. The EFJ Vice-President, Mustafa Kuleli, stated that Erdogan’s regime is trying to criminalise journalism and advocacy by associating them with terrorism. The statement concludes by urging the Turkish government to end the repression of media freedom advocates and release journalists imprisoned in Turkish prisons

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