The state of media in Turkey and the Balkan countries

The Turkish Press Council hosted a meeting last week attended by representatives of press councils from Balkan countries. At the meeting, which was held with the support of UNESCO and the European Union and focused on self-regulation in the media, we were joined by colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. In the meeting, where UNESCO representative Joshua Massarenti thanked Turkey for hosting, the first speech was delivered by Press Council President Pınar Türenç, who spoke about the current state of the Turkish media and summarized the events of just the last year:

• 72 journalists were detained, and there were arrests.

• Journalists were brought before a judge 563 times.

• A large number of journalists remain in custody.

• A censorship law was enacted.

• Access bans were imposed on news reports and TV programs.

• Even television series were banned.

• Screens were blacked out, and fines were imposed on TV stations and newspapers.

• We fell to 165th place in the World Press Freedom Index.

Speaking after these remarks, Albanian representative Koloreto Cukali said, "Whenever it is my turn to speak after hearing about the situation in Turkey, I find it very difficult, because while we also have problems, we never face such a grim picture."

It is saddening that Turkey, with its thousands of years of state tradition, at least two centuries of press history, a 100-year-old republic, and over 70 years of democratic experience, has such a picture in 2024 and is viewed this way in the eyes of foreigners; this is not an image that Turkey deserves.

But this is the reality.

The foreign journalists who came to Turkey for the Press Council were very happy to see Istanbul, to visit historical sites, to leave with beautiful memories, and to see the potential of Turkey and its people. All of the participating countries remained provinces of the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years, and we have historical and cultural ties with all of them; Istanbul always impresses them, and they take pride in the successes of Istanbul and Turkey.

However, the poor management of the country's economy, the resulting impoverishment of the people, the loss of prosperity, rising unemployment, the violation of the rule of law, the stripping of the media's role as media, the shelving of democracy, the unaccountable attitude of those who govern the country, being blacklisted due to money laundering, opening doors to disreputable mafia leaders through the sale of citizenship, allowing large amounts of suspicious money to enter the country, and election tours conducted with rule-breaking vehicles with flashing lights—all of this ruins the country's image.

That is precisely why Turkey cannot rise to the position it deserves; on the contrary, it is regressing. As you have seen recently, international firms that have been in this country for 100 years are leaving one by one.

Turkey, which years ago opened its arms for European Union membership and celebrated with 'Yes' banners, is now being excluded from all kinds of international platforms in the West.

And it is a pity that the country's decision-makers neither care about nor take this picture into account.

We hope that one day they will understand that these attitudes are harming Turkey.