The Journalists Union of Turkey hosted a regional meeting of the IFJ-EFJ affiliates from the Balkans and Eastern Europe in Istanbul on 29-30 November 2016.
The gathering of international journalist representatives from over 12 different countries, sent a message of solidarity to Turkey’s journalists operating under the current state of emergency where:
• Over 120 journalists are currently in jail
• Hundreds face prosecution
• Over 3000 have lost their jobs following forced closures of over 180 media
The event has primarily focused on the current ‘post-coup’ environment in Turkey and the current oppression against journalists across the country. It also addressed the organizing challenges for journalists unions around the region and how to overcome obstacles to freedom of association, for recruiting members and protecting them and union activists from union hostile actors.
A solidarity visit was organised to Cumhuriyet daily newspaper still recovering for the police raid and arrest of 10 of their most senior staff in October. The delegation met the staff and wives of the arrested journalists.
The meeting was supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and the Swedish Union To Union global trade union programme.
Read the conclusions adopted by the participant at the end of 2-day conference here The IFJ has launched an online petition seeking to release jailed journalists in Turkey. Help us free our colleagues and sign it hereFor more information, please contact IFJ on + 32 2 235 22 16
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 140 countries