Turkey: Journalists lives put at risk by drama series

The unauthorised use of IFJ International Press Cards (IPC) by undercover military agents posing as journalists in a Turkish drama series has been condemned as potentially putting media workers' lives in danger.

In the TV series Teskilat two undercover Turkish security agents are stopped at a checkpoint entering Northern Iraq and show their press cards, claiming they are working journalists. The cards are replicas of the IFJ issued IPC, the world’s oldest and most-recognised media accreditation for professionals.

Unions in Turkey and Iraq condemned the scene, claiming it put all bona fide journalists in the region in danger.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “The IPC is a vital tool for professional journalists to ease access and provide a greater degree of safety and protection. Dramas like this run the risk of casting suspicion on the holders of such a card and thereby potentially put them in danger. We urge all programme-makers to understand the possible serious consequences for their media colleagues of such use of press cards”.

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