International Journalists Association e.V Press Briefings
The estates and properties of 35 journalists, who had to leave their country due to Erdogan regime, were confiscated in Turkey. This attempt against our exiled journalist colleagues, who have been forced to live in exile due to their democratic stance as well as their journalistic identities, and against whom dozens of lawsuits have been filed in Turkey, is in itself a silencing move. This decision published in the Official Gazette is completely illicit.
In Turkey, where freedom of the press has been abolished in all spheres, dozens of media outlets have been shut down and hundreds of journalists have been arrested. As a country where journalists are exposed to lawsuits and dismissed through cancelling their press cards, Turkey has been experiencing a new incident that took place in the last days of 2021 and this is an indication of the pressure that journalists might face in 2022 as well, since the election atmosphere is forthcoming.
Journalists who have been living in exile in various countries of the world, particularly in Europe, are struggling to keep executing their profession with limited opportunities.
The confiscation of the estates and properties of our colleagues, who are the voice of Turkish society, is aimed at choking this voice. With this decision published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey, journalists are described as “fugitive terrorists”. As a next step, Turkey may possibly attempt to restrict the financial movements of exiled journalists in different countries through exploiting the Interpol system and make them unable to do their jobs.
As the International Journalists Association e.V, we invite Turkish government to put an end to the arbitrary decisions taken and to act in accordance with the rule of law. We declare that we are in solidarity with the journalists whose estates and properties were confiscated and we entirely stand up for them. We invite the international community to react to this illicit decision.
International Journalists Association e.V
