Press Freedom
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Reporter Without Borders
OPC Denounces Turkey’s Indictment of Bloomberg Journalists
Photo: Burak Kara/Getty Images
NEW YORK, June 18, 2019 – The Overseas Press Club of America condemns the action taken by Turkey’s judicial system to indict two Bloomberg journalists for routine reporting on the challenges facing the Turkish economy.
Bloomberg reporters Fercan Yalinkilic and Kerim Karakaya have been charged with undermining Turkey’s economic stability, according to Bloomberg and media reports. The court accepted an indictment from a prosecutor who recommended a jail term of two to five years for the reporters, if convicted.
The charges against the journalists result from an August 2018 Bloomberg story about how Turkish authorities and banks responded to Turkey’s biggest currency shock since 2001.
John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg, said “we condemn the indictment issued against our reporters, who have reported fairly and accurately on newsworthy events. We fully stand by them and will support them throughout this ordeal.”
A criminal court in Istanbul is scheduled to hear the case on Sept. 20.
Turkey is the world’s leading jailer of professional journalists and ranks 157th in the World Press Freedom Index, according to Reporters Without Borders.
The annual index measures the state of journalism and press freedom in 180 countries.
The Overseas Press Club is an international association of journalists based in New York City that works to encourage the highest standards in journalism, to educate the next generation of foreign correspondents and to promote international press freedom and the well-being of colleagues in the field.