Commenting on the limits of freedom of expression in Turkey prior to the July 24 Journalists and Press Day, Lawyer Elvan Kılıç stated that 40 percent of the violations of freedom of expression reported in 2018 by ECHR is from Turkey. Pointing out that 136 journalists and media workers are in prison in Turkey according to the 2018 data of Turkish Journalists Trade Union, lawyer Elvan Kılıç said: “According to the results of the World Press Freedom Index 2018, Turkey was 157th among 180 countries. Courts need to take more initiative on this issue, and precedent decisions that give more importance to freedom of expression should be made.”
Precedent decisions should be made on this issue
Saying that “136 journalists and media workers are in prison in Turkey according to the data of Turkish Journalists Trade Union”, Kılıç continued to explain: “In particular, the reflection of this situation to the public and foreign press shows the position of human rights and freedom of expression in our country. Courts need to take more initiative on this issue, and precedent decisions that give more importance to freedom of expression should be made. Because these decisions are also related to the European Court of Human Rights, and according to the latest data, the ECHR ruled violation of freedom of expression in a total of 77 cases from Europe in 2018. It was observed that 40 of these violations were from Turkey. Therefore, local courts should focus more on freedom of expression and take more precedent decisions in cases.”
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