Mustafa Cambaz, a photojournalist for the Turkish daily Yeni Safak was killed during the attempted coup in Turkey, whilst during the night from Friday to Saturday, the national television station TRT, the private broadcaster CNN-Turk, and the daily newspaper Hurryiet were occupied by soldiers.
In the Ankara studios of TRT, news anchor Tijen Karas was forced to read a statement at gunpoint. Several journalists were attacked during the clashes. In Istanbul, civilians protesting the coup bet Selçuk Şamiloğlu, a photojournalist for Hurriyet and the Associated Press.
Once again, the press was targeted, while Turkish democracy was under assault.
“Mustafa Cambaz was killed while performing his duty to inform”, declared Philippe Leruth and Mögens Blicher Bjerregaard, presidents of the International and of the European Federations of journalists (IFJ/EFJ). “His name is added to the too-long lists of martyrs of press-freedom. Those who killed him were trying to kill democracy in Turkey. Journalists all over the world demand justice for this crime, and reject any attempt to allow his murderers to escape with impunity”.
The International Federation of Journalists represents 600000 journalists in 140 countries. The European Federation of Journalists represents over 320,000 journalists in 71 journalists’ organisations across 43 countries.
