PodcastJournalists in Turkey 'still face death while doing their job'
Journalists in Turkey continue to face death some 25 years after April 6 was marked Day of Slain Journalists in the country, HDP deputy chair Tayip Temel said, as he commemorated Metin Göktepe, Hrant Dink, Musa Anter among all others killed for defending the public's wellbeing.
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Journalists in Turkey continue to give their lives to be able to do their jobs, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy chair Tayip Temel noted on April 6, the Day of Slain Journalists in the country.
Temel commemorated iconic slain reporter Metin Göktepe, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and Kurdish journalist and intellectual Musa Anter, voicing their support for "journalists who defend the public's wellbeing, not the government's."
"It's been 25 years since this day was marked. Nothing's changed for journalists in Turkey in this time. Journalists still face death for expressing opinions and revealing truths," Temel said in a statement.
Journalists' job is to serve as a gatekeeper of the government and to hold those in power accountable, he said, adding that "this is why those who have an interest in the current system don't like investigative journalists."
Meanwhile, the Tigris Euphrates Journalists Association (DFG) reported that one journalist was murdered in March, while six others were detained.
One journalist was assaulted in Turkey in March, while access to some 120 news stories was blocked in the same period, the association's data also revealed.
With 106 journalists still in prosecution, Turkey remains one of the largest jailers of the profession in the world.
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