Freedom of press debated in Bozcaada

SAFAK TIMUR ÇANAKKALE , Bozcaada – Turkish Daily News

If you are a national journalist in Turkey, your chief worry is the heavy hand of press law. If you work for a local newspaper, the lament is the heavy hand of the very few advertisers whose clout keeps scribes in line.

Such was the summary of complaints among journalists of both big press outlets and small who gathered Friday at a workshop on the Aegean island of Bozcaada to debate the meaning and state of freedom of the press and speech in Turkey.

Economic difficulties constrain local newspapers' freedom, while media as a whole is trying to continue its work with restrictions on freedom of press and speech, said journalists and some of their lawyers who were also in attendance.

Freedom of press should be regarded as the freedom of people to receive news, said Turgay Olcayto, the vice president of Turkey Journalists' Community, or TGC, at the start of the workshop that was organized by the Press Institute Association. Journalists debated Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which has been heavily criticized for restricting freedom of speech. Prominent Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in 2007 was convicted under Article 301 for insulting Turkishness. The article has been amended and “insulting Turkishness” has been changed to “insulting the Turkish nation.” What is important is that society digests the law, said lawyer Turgut Kazan from the Istanbul Bar, otherwise an article from any law can be found to convict people. Yücel Dösemeci, another lawyer from the Istanbul Bar said the problem about Article 301 is about implementation.

Local media in difficulties

Representatives of local media in nearby western city of Çanakkale, which has seven weekly and five daily newspapers shared their problems at the meeting. Aynur Narler, from Çanakkale Olay newspaper said political pressure, the problem of finding educated personnel, and economic problems make it difficult for local media. It becomes easy to corner [a newspaper] in the local domain, said Isik Narler, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. Education of newspaper personnel is another critical problem for local media, said Ilker Yurttas, the owner of Kalem newspaper. Support to local media for training personnel was discussed as well. However, Ömer Faruk Mutan, the head of Health Employees Trade Union's, or SES, Çanakkale branch, criticized local media owners for not acting together. Local media members emphasized as well that they would face serious financial problems in the near future if a new law ends state institutions' obligation to announce public bids via local papers.

Apoyevmatini needs money to survive

Apoyevmatini, an 84-year-old Greek language local newspaper in Istanbul is facing financial difficulties like its other local counterparts. The archives of the newspaper face the danger of disappearing, said Mihail Vasiliadis, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. He is trying to publish the newspaper by himself without any other employee at the paper. “We need 35,000 euros to take photographs of the old issues and make a digital archive,” Vasiliadis said. The newspaper is an extremely significant historic source for the Greek community in Turkey. Vasiliadis highlighted that Apoyevmatini has not been able to receive the announcements of public bids for 84 years, which would help the paper survive.