The International Reporters Without Borders (RSF) organization shared Turkey’s place in the press freedom index on World Press Freedom Day. In the report of RSF, it was stated that the pressure on journalists increased before the Presidential Elections to be held on 14 May and the 28th Term Parliamentary Elections, and that Turkey ranks 165th among 180 countries according to the 2023 World Press Index.
With the decision taken by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, May 3 is celebrated as World Press Freedom Day all over the world.
RSF shared Turkey’s place in the world press freedom index on World Press Freedom Day. In the report, where it is stated that Turkey ranked 153rd in 2021, “In the Turkey 2023 Index, which rose to 149th place last year thanks to the civil society’s advocacy performance, 16th place suddenly due to mass arrests of Kurdish journalists and social factors that threaten media freedom. has regressed,” he said.
According to the index based on 180 countries and published by RSF for the 21st time this year; In 31 countries, the press freedom situation was rated as “grave”, “bad” in 42, “problematic” in 55, and “very good” or “good” in 52. According to the data in the index, it was stated that journalism could be done with difficulty in 7 out of 10 countries and it was found satisfactory in only 3 out of 10 countries.
NORWAY RANKS FIRST FOR 7 YEARS
Norway has been at the top of the press freedom indexes published by RSF for 7 years. Norway is followed by Ireland and Denmark.
THERE ARE ASIAN COUNTRIES AT THE LAST RANGE
In the index, which covers 180 countries, Asian countries are in the last place. Vietnam ranked 178th and China 179th. North Korea was ranked last in the index in terms of freedom of the press.
Türkiye DECREASED FROM 149 FROM 165
Turkey’s press freedom index has dropped 16 places in the last 2 years. The following statements regarding Turkey’s decline were included in the index:
“Despite the worsening of the conditions for freedom of the press in terms of the general picture, Turkey, which rose to 149th place in terms of the release of journalists in the previous two years, the demand for judicial control instead of arrest, and the effective struggle of freedom of expression organizations in seeking rights, in 2022, especially the polarization of the media and its targeting in various ways. In addition to the ‘social context’ factor in terms of the distance covered, the index experienced an ‘unprecedented decline’ due to the detention of 25 Kurdish media representatives through operations based in Diyarbakır and Ankara.”
IT WAS 99TH RANKED IN 2002
In 2002, the year the press freedom index was first made, Turkey’s ranking was 99.
GREECE IS THE LOWEST COUNTRY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE INDEX
While addressing the reasons for the decline in freedom of the press in Turkey, the following statements were included in the index:
“Severe problems arising from the independence of the judiciary, arbitrary arrests of journalists, suppression of online journalism, criminal and administrative sanctions targeting critical journalism, and impunity for crimes against journalists are among the chronic issues in Turkey.
Like Turkey, Tajikistan (153) and India (161), where oligarchs close to Prime Minister Modi threatened media pluralism, were among the countries whose situation was identified as ‘dire’ in terms of media freedom. The social actions caused by Mahsa Amini’s death have regressed the ‘social context’ and ‘legal framework’ indicators for Iran (177). Russia was shown at 164, Ukraine at 79, the USA at 45, down three places, and France at 24, advancing two places. Greece, where journalists are monitored by the intelligence services and with powerful spyware, is the 107th most backward country in the European Union’s index.