The Turkish government became champions for free press and human rights on Monday.
Turkey’s ambassador to Libya, Levent Sahinkaya, along with Turkish authorities lobbied for the release of four New York Times journalists who had been detained for nearly a week.
The efforts are monumental to family and friends of the detained journalists, as well as to those who crusade for free press and human rights around the globe.
Unfortunately, the Turkish government fails to champion these values in its own country.
In recent months Turkey has adopted significant measures to limit freedom of the press.
Most recently, five journalists were accused of trying to overthrow Turkey’s government. Only one day earlier, two prominent journalists, Nedim Sener and Ahmet Sik, were jailed for similar accusations.
Contrary to the accusations, Sener and Sik had recently written articles opposing a coup.
The Turkish Journalists’ Association reported to The New York Times that thousands of journalists in Turkey have faced court hearings for their writings and 60 journalists have been jailed.
These stories and statistics are staggering not only because it’s hard to believe that countries continue to deny their citizens a free press, but also because Turkey is a prominent, developed country.
After all, Turkey was right behind the United States in granting women the right to vote. Wouldn’t it seem natural for Turkey to have made similar strides for journalists’ rights? Apparently not.
The U.S. government needs to place pressure on the Turkish government to adopt measures allowing free press once and for all.
The European Union should continue to push for reform, also. The EU is already concerned about the rising trend of jailed journalists in Turkey, Voice of America reported.
They urged the country to take measures to prevent such offenses from continuing. However, Turkey did nothing. The EU released another report this month and continued to criticize the Turkish government for its lack of press freedom.
A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said the U.S. would watch trends in Turkey. However, that may not be enough. Action needs to be taken to prevent the Turkish government from detaining any more journalists.
This is not just about the journalists. The people of Turkey need to receive accurate news. “It’s about freedom of us, because I am not a journalist, but I have the right to reach through an independent news,” one Turkish protestor said to Voice of America.
From its inception, America has reaped the benefits of a free press. The little-known efforts of Nellie Bly exposed poor conditions in mental hospitals, and the famed Watergate scandal exposed criminal behavior in the White House and forced former President Richard Nixon’s resignation.
The press has helped serve as a watchdog and positively shape U.S. history. It’s time for citizens in Turkey to reap those benefits as well.
Granted, this is a day of celebration for journalists and free-press advocates. Four American journalists were released from Libya relatively unharmed. But before we get too caught up in the celebration, we should remember we have a long way to go.
The first step is to force the Turkish government to practice what they preach.
Emilie is a journalism freshman. You can reach her at eeeaton@asu.edu
