The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has condemned the arrest of journalists in Amed.

EFJ newly elected Vice-President and General Secretary of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) Mustafa Kuleli said: “Today is one of the darkest days for press freedom in Turkey’s history. Authorities continue to crack down on journalists, accusing them of terrorism. We stand in solidarity with all Kurdish media workers currently in prison for doing their job and urge for the immediate release of all of them.”

The massive arrests came a few weeks after the governing alliance of Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted to the Parliament a bill on ‘disinformation and fake news’. If passed, it will lead to further restrictions on freedom of expression by punishing those convicted of deliberately publishing “disinformation and fake news” with up to three years in prison.

EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez condemned the latest attempts to muzzle the press: “European journalists who met in Izmir earlier this week expressed their full solidarity with jailed and prosecuted journalists in Turkey. Your struggle is our struggle and together we can resist censorship and repression.”

Today, 39 journalists are behind bars for doing their job according to the Journalists’ Union of Turkey.