NUJ solidarity with Turkish journalists
The NUJ has renewed its support for Turkish journalists following the latest state assault on press freedom.
At a rally outside the Turkish Embassy in Dublin on 23 September, Séamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary, called on the Irish government to use the country's presidency of the European Union to highlight human rights violations in Turkey, a candidate for membership of the EU.
He was speaking on behalf of the NUJ and as a member of the executive council of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).
On 13 September, journalist Tuğba Tekerek was detained and transferred to Ankara over an article she had published concerning the LGBT+ movement in Georgia. The article in question had been published in 2024 on Kaos GL, a news site operated by one of Turkey’s oldest LGBT+ advocacy groups.
Tekerek’s detention is part of the ‘My Family is Safe’ investigations, announced by Turkey’s ministry of justice on 13 September, that have resulted in a wave of raids and arrests targeting LGBT+ activists and organisations. According to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), legal proceedings have been initiated against 162 people, 13 businesses and nine associations.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined its affiliates DİSK Basın-İş and Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası (TGS) in condemning the arbitrary detention of journalists for covering LGBT+ issues, and calling for their immediate release.
Dooley told the Dublin rally that Turkey has consistently abused judicial processes to trample on human rights.
Fundamental freedoms, including the rights to freedom of association and expression, were violated by the weaponing of laws designed to persecute rather than protect.
He renewed calls by the NUJ for the immediate release of all media workers unjustly detained in the country.
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