by Our Foreign Desk

INTERNATIONAL media unions declared their solidarity yesterday with Turkish colleagues under attack from the ruling AKP party.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) along with the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) adopted a declaration in Istanbul.

Among the demands was that Turkey investigate attacks on journalists and media outlets, including recent incidents targeting newspaper Hurriyet and columnist Ahmet Hakan.

Seven international press freedom organisations were also part of the three-day international mission to Turkey this week that led to the declaration.

The IFJ and EFJ highlighted the pressures faced by Turkish journalists, especially those working in media controlled by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and during the recent election period.

Their representative Patrick Kamenka said: “Our colleagues are under heavy pressures, especially when a group of media is in the hands of the AKP regime, when public TV RTR is not playing the role of pluralism of information.

“The IFJ and EFJ must support our affiliate TGS in its difficult union task as pressures are strong in a context of 30 per cent unemployment and low salaries,” he added.

TGS general secretary Mustafa Kuleli stressed the importance of solidarity with Turkish journalists standing up to intimidation. “It is again up to us to save ourselves,” he said.