Journalism in Türkiye faces another witch hunt
12 November 2024
President Erdoğan's AKP party has passed the controversial 'agent of influence' bill, posing a serious threat to press freedom. The law consists of 23 articles, with Article 16 receiving particular attention. Added at the request of national intelligence, it introduces prison sentences of 3 to 7 years for those committing crimes for foreign states or organisations that harm Türkiye's security or political interests.
With the passing of this law, censorship, repression, and arbitrary arrests which have been occurring in an unconstitutional manner for some time – will effectively be 'legalised'. Civil society representatives and journalists warn that the bill's vague language could signal the start of a new "witch hunt."
 | Yakup Can Yargıç The bill introduces new crimes alongside espionage that could impact press freedom and the public's right to information, making it more difficult to report on crimes and abuses of power, especially regarding corruption and human rights violations. One clear example is journalist Can Dündar, who had to leave Türkiye and relocate to Germany. Dündar was arrested for “obtaining state security information, political and military espionage, disclosing confidential information” due to his report on the alleged weapons in the military trucks supposedly sent to Syria to be handed over to ISIS. This witch hunt first came to public attention in May, following the enactment of the 'censorship law' last year, which led to heavy penalties for numerous opposition channels, journalists, and organisations. Also, independent press relying on funding may face financial cuts. |
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