Expert talk on press freedom in Turkey - "New paths for independent journalism"

(Please find the videos at the end of the document)

Experts met to discuss the situation of media freedom in countries with repressive regimes on 8th December 2017 in Berlin, Germany. The event was hosted by Martina Michels MEP/die LINKE EP and European United Left/Nordic Greens Left (GUE/NGL). In expert talks speakers from Turkey gave first-hand accounts of the daily problems facing media workers on the ground in the country. And they tried to find solutions through new tools for independent journalism, and improving the possibilities of working in exile.

ECPMF researcher Martin Hoffman talked with Engin Önder (Founder and director of "140journos"), Zeynep Erdim (producer for BBC-Turkey) and Professor Mine Gencel Bek (University Siegen, earlier Department of Journalism, Faculty of Communication, Ankara University, Turkey). 

Social media platforms obviously are no longer a safe place: "Twitter is the most valuable in Turkey. There is about seven million tweets per day. Twitter is news. And it is closely watched by the government," said Zeynep Erdim. The panel also discussed trolls and self-censorship and compared the dangers and advantages of Facebook, Whatsapp and Snapchat etc..

The second panel was all about journalists between resistance and exile. On stage were Mustafa Kuleli (TGS Journalist Union Turkey), Seda Serdar (Head of the Turkish Service, Deutsche Welle) and Zübeyde Sari (Reporter for Özgürüz in Turkey), who gave very different examples of their daily work. Sari impressed the audience by stating "courage protects you" about her dangerous daily routine in Turkey. "It's a lot like '1984'," she added. "This novel is very present in Turkey." She was referring to George Orwell's dystopian vision of a totalitarian state where everyone is under surveillance all the time from "Big Brother". The panel also discussed the necessity of new platforms for journalists in exile.

The event in video: 

- welcome by Martina Michels, MEP

- introduction of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom 

- panel I: Martin Hoffmann (ECPMF), Engin Önder (Founder and director of "140journos"), Zeynep Erdim (producer for BBC-Turkey) and Professor Mine Gencel Bek (University Siegen, earlier Department of Journalism, Faculty of Communication, Ankara University, Turkey)

- panel II: Nora Wehofsits (ECPMF), Mustafa Kuleli (TGS Journalist Union Turkey), Seda Serdar (Head of the Turkish Service, Deutsche Welle) and Zübeyde Sari (Reporter for Özgürüz in Turkey) 

- closing statement by Martina Michels, MEP

Please find here the audio link (mp3) to both panels:

In English

In Turkish German and English

Please find here MEP Martina Michels' account of the expert talk day (In German)

At the evening talk "Europasalon" with Neues Deutschland MEP Martina Michels, ECPMF Managing Director Lutz Kinkel, Hungarian journalist Hanna Ongjerth and publisher Christoph Links discussed "media freedom under threat".