Opening of the plenary: situation in Turkey

"The freedom and pluralism of the media are a core value of our Union.

Turkey is a candidate country which is in accession negotiations with the EU. The relationship with candidate countries has to be an honest and open one.

It is exactly because we take the negotiations with Turkey seriously, that we will be unambiguous in highlighting advances and pointing out where we fear there might be setbacks.

Problems with press freedom and freedom of expression are not new in Turkey.

We have witnessed the crackdown on journalists and social media following the Gezi Park protests. Yesterday we witnessed, once more, a wave of raids against media which are critical towards the government. We are concerned that the latest developments signal a dangerous stance towards critical media and we have to follow these developments closely.

Criticism is to be confronted with arguments, ideas and evidence, not with retaliation, intimidation and detention of journalists. This is the norm in all democratic states which are subject to the rule of law.

On behalf of the European Parliament, I therefore ask the Turkish embassy for an explanation regarding the events."

For further information:

The European Parliament will hold a debate with VPC/HR Federica Mogherini i on Wednesday 17 December 2014 on "Freedom i of expression in Turkey: Recent arrests of journalists, media executives and systematic pressure against media on the situation in Turkey" and will vote on a resolution during the January 2015 plenary session

Europe by Satellite: Introductory remarks by EP President Martin Schulz i: http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I096437