The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has criticized Turkey for the state of media freedom in the country. In its assembly debate on Thursday the Parliamentary Assembly stressed that "freedom of expression and information constitutes a cornerstone of good governance and thriving democracy, as well as a fundamental obligation of each member State under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5, “the Convention”). Member States have, in particular, a positive obligation under Articles 2 and 10 of the Convention to protect journalists against attacks on their lives and freedom of expression and prevent impunity of the perpetrators".

The Assembly condemned the numerous attacks against investigative journalists as well as threats against people working with investigative media, like Sergei Magnitsky who was tortured and murdered in a Russian prison in 2009. The Assembly calls on the competent authorities to properly investigate such cases in order to bring to justice those who instigate them.
The Assembly said to be "shocked by the high number of journalists imprisoned, detained or prosecuted in Turkey for having expressed their political opinions and contributed to a political debate necessary in a vibrant democracy. The enormous number of cases has a paralysing effect on Turkey’s media environment and journalists".
While welcoming that the “Third Judicial Reform Package” adopted by the Turkish Parliament on 2 July 2012 may prevent excessively long detentions in the future, the Assembly noted "with concern that previously imposed detentions still continue and ongoing trials continue to be adjudicated by the previous special courts. The Assembly calls for the findings by the Commissioner for Human Rights in his report of 12 July 2011 to be fully implemented by the Turkish Government without delay".
The legislative revision in 2008 of Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code appeared not to have resolved the problem that this article can be applied unduly against journalists and others, as stated by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Altuğ Taner Akçam v. Turkey on 25 October 2011. Therefore, the Assembly "calls on Turkey to repeal Article 301 immediately".
In their final resolution the Assembly said that "it is rather difficult to comprehend the large number of criminal investigations which have been initiated against journalists under Articles 285 and 288 of the Turkish Penal Code, Article 6 of the Turkish Anti-Terror Law and related legal provisions, in particular for having reported on the massive court trials concerning the Ergenekon criminal organisation. The sheer number of cases is an indication of a serious violation of media freedom, also in the light of Committee of Ministers Recommendation Rec(2003)13 on the provision of information through the media in relation to criminal proceedings".
Finally welcoming the assistance and co-operation projects established by the Council of Europe with Turkey upon the invitation extended by the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in April 2011, the Assembly invited "the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to assess the impact of this action and to review and possibly increase co-operation activities in the field of media freedom".