Another blow for Turkey’s not-so-free press

Perhaps the tally of sackings should come as no surprise

Evidence that reporters trying to cover last month’s protests in Turkey were being targeted by police was troubling enough.

That 22 journalists have since lost their jobs in connection with the riots, and another 37 have been forced to resign, is no more encouraging.

Perhaps the tally of sackings should come as no surprise, in a country where a main news channel aired a nature documentary while tear gas wafted through the streets. Indeed, with more reporters in prison in Turkey than anywhere else in the world, unemployment may be the least worst outcome for a journalist. But such persecution is no less shocking for all that. Our Voices in Danger campaign was set up to shine a light on the violence and intimidation so many reporters around the world face. The latest events in Turkey are a case in point.