‘Friends’ of the West, Enemies of Press Freedom

Thursday, 29 December 2011

http://www.freemedia.at/home/singleview/article/friends-of-the-west-enemies-of-press-freedom.html

A Year-End Look at 10 Press Freedom Offender States on whose Strategic Support the West Depends

VIENNA, 28 Dec. 2011 – At the close of the year, the International Press Institute (IPI) takes a look at 10 states that have poor records on press freedom, but on whose strategic support the west depends. These ‘Friends’ of the West, Enemies of Press Freedom are listed in no particular order below.

***********************************************************

Turkey

Friend:

Relations between the west and Turkey – a NATO member since 1952 and still theoretically a candidate to join the European Union – have cooled in recent years, but U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta earlier this month said on a visit to Turkey that the country remains a “key ally”. Western powers have often turned to Turkey, which serves as a bridge between the west and the Muslim world, for help in supporting the transitions to democracy in Iraq, Egypt and Libya, and in confronting the regimes in Syria and Iran.

Press Freedom Enemy:

Turkey presented one of the worst press freedom pictures in Europe, with a judge from the European Court of Human Rights saying in November that the country had taken the lead among Council of Europe members in violations of freedom of expression, including press freedom.

Turkey Arrests Journalists It Ties to Outlawed Group

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204058404577110491968093640.html

21.12.2011, By AYLA ALBAYRAK

ISTANBUL—Twenty-six journalists were among the suspects arrested on Tuesday in a crackdown on an organization tied to Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a media watchdog said, heightening criticism of the country’s record on press freedom.

If the number is confirmed, the arrests would bring the number of journalists in Turkish jails to more than 90, one of the highest detention numbers for journalists in the world, the Bianet media-rights monitoring group said.

The journalists, most of them working for Kurdish newspapers and agencies, were arrested on Tuesday as part of an operation against the Kurdistan Communities Union, or KCK, an umbrella organization for Kurdish nationalist groups that the government says acts as the urban wing of the PKK.