International Mission Alarms Over Deteriorating Press Freedom in Turkey

International Delegation Concludes Turkey Visit

An international press freedom mission, composed of eight prominent organizations, concluded its three-day visit to Ankara, Turkey, from November 24 to 26, 2025. The delegation voiced significant alarm regarding the rapidly deteriorating media freedom environment and the pervasive judicial harassment faced by journalists in the country.

The mission included representatives from the International Press Institute (IPI), Amnesty International, ARTICLE 19 Europe, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO). During their stay, the delegates engaged with various stakeholders, including the Turkish Constitutional Court, opposition members of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), the EU Delegation to Turkey, foreign diplomatic missions, the Association of Journalists in Ankara, and lawmakers from the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). However, requests for meetings with Turkish governmental bodies were either rejected or ignored.

Escalating Pressures and Judicial Harassment

The mission's findings underscored a severe crackdown on independent journalism, characterized by escalating political pressure, widespread censorship, and a troubling pattern of punitive actions against critical media. Concerns were raised over:

• Prolonged arbitrary pretrial detention and politically motivated prosecutions.
• The instrumentalization of regulatory bodies like RTÜK and the Press Advertising Agency to stifle dissent through heavy fines, broadcast bans, and selective allocation of public advertising.
• The proposed 'agent of influence' bill, which poses additional threats to journalists.

The delegation specifically pointed to the intensified repression targeting journalists following the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19, 2025. This event led to mass detentions and significant restrictions on media coverage, with journalists reportedly facing police raids, physical assaults, and attempts to silence them. As of the mission's conclusion, 27 journalists were reported to be behind bars in Turkey, according to Expression Interrupted.

Recommendations and International Standing

In light of these findings, the international organizations urged Turkish authorities to implement several critical reforms:

• End the judicial harassment of journalists.
• Enforce decisions by the Constitutional Court on freedom of expression.
• Halt arbitrary regulatory sanctions and restore unrestricted digital access.
• Revise overly broad criminal and counterterrorism provisions used to suppress dissent.
• Permanently withdraw the 'agent of influence' bill.

The mission emphasized that Turkey must 'reverse the current trajectory' and engage meaningfully with stakeholders to protect press freedom and freedom of expression. The deteriorating media landscape is further reflected in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, which ranked Turkey 159th out of 180 nations, placing it in the 'very serious' category.