A coalition of four international media freedom and journalism organizations participated in a mission to Turkey from November 12 to 15, 2024 in Ankara. The delegation’s visit coincided with the parliamentary debate on the highly contentious “agent of influence” bill, which, if passed, could significantly expand the scope of crimes used to prosecute journalists to include “working in alignment with a foreign state”.
The mission was convened by the International Press Institute (IPI), and comprised representatives from the following organizations: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Requests for meetings with the following institutions were left unanswered:
- Ministry of Justice’s Human Rights Department
- Presidency’s Director of Communications: Fahrettin Altun
- Radio and Television High Council (RTÜK), Chair: Ebubekir Şahin
- Parliamentary Commission on Digital Platforms, Chair: Hüseyin Yayman
- Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission, Chair: Derya Yanık
Briefings were held with the Delegation of the European Union to Türkiye and the foreign diplomatic missions in Ankara. The mission concluded with a press conference held in Ankara.
This was the sixth successive international press freedom mission led by the International Press Institute (IPI) in Turkey, building on those organized in September 2019, October 2020, October 2021, October 2022 and October 2023.
