EU Turkey rapporteur Nacho Sánchez Amor strongly criticized the attempt to deport French Libération journalist Raphaël Boukandoura, who was detained in Istanbul while covering a protest.
Amor stated that independent journalism has become a truly dangerous profession in Turkey for both local and foreign journalists.
On 21 January 2026, Amor commented on the state of press freedom in Turkey in a post on social media, saying that he was following Boukandoura’s situation with concern. The journalist was detained while reporting on a protest in Istanbul and is facing the threat of deportation despite having lived in Turkey since 2015.
The EU rapporteur described the incident not merely as the deportation of a foreign journalist but as part of a broader press freedom issue. Amor said:
“Independent journalism has become a truly dangerous profession in Turkey for both local and foreign journalists.”