Dr. Barry White:

I will try to answer some of the questions the members raised, which are very good and very pertinent to what we are talking about. First, I will address what the committee can do, and this is very important for all of us. This is part of a process of raising awareness here today, which is very valuable. One of the problems is that people do not know what is going on, which is quite ironic since journalists are not writing about journalists, but then journalists do not control the publications for which they work. Other people make decisions on what is and what is not news. Getting the information out is incredibly important, and this is a very valuable way of doing it.

Also, it is important to challenge the Turkish authorities both in Britain, which we did when we visited the ambassador there who was very polite and listened to what we had to say, and in Ireland where the same has been done. We have to keep putting the facts before the Turkish authorities in our countries. Turkey is a candidate country for EU accession and it is, or was, a signatory to human rights conventions. My colleague, Mr. Gerry Carson, said something about the future of democracy there. I would say that democracy is a very long journey and Turkey have taken a very bad turning right off the road. Raising awareness through the mechanisms the members of the committee have here is very important. They might like to consider inviting the Turkish ambassador to come here and discuss their concerns about media freedom and the right of expression in Turkey or they may wish to go to see him. They may wish to initiate a debate in the Parliament. They may wish to ask the appropriate Minister to raise these issues with the Turkish ambassador and directly with the Turkish Government, and through Europe.

As a colleague mentioned, a motion was passed by the European Parliament a few days ago and what it said, apart from highlighting the numbers, is that journalists should not be detained on the basis of the content of their journalism or alleged affiliations and that the Turkish authorities should release those journalists and media workers being held without compelling evidence of criminal activity following the coup attempt of 15 July. Within that, there are obviously journalists who are being held, some in solitary confinement, others of whom are having difficulty getting access to lawyers. To be honest, some lawyers are quite scared of taking up the cases because of their own futures. There has been a purge in the Judiciary, as well as other sectors of society, so one can see the background music is not good. I do not have the sort of details the committee would perhaps like about individuals, except to say that when individuals are held in solitary confinement it is very difficult for them to get information out and one has to rely on their families to tell one what is going on. There is a whole set of problems there but raising awareness is a crucial thing to do.

As far as the treatment of journalists goes – we will just talk about it very briefly – there are a number of journalists from Turkey who are now in exile in Britain simply because their passports have been revoked or they have been told if they come back they will be arrested and their publications have been shut down or taken over by the state. They are now in a sort of limbo land where they will probably be applying for political asylum in Britain because they cannot go back and if they do, they face arrest. There is a whole series of problems there. A number of media outlets in Turkey had stations in Britain that were closed when the outlets were closed. Those involved are really worried about their future and if they have families back in Turkey, they are worried about that.

The Kurdish situation has already been touched on in the sense that we do not get involved in politics, as such. We do not have a solution for the Kurdish problem and we do not offer one. What we offer is solidarity with journalists who are facing oppression. We know the situation in the south east of Turkey and we know the difficulty of getting information out and the treatment of people there and the treatment of journalists. Obviously the NUJ and the IFJ stand for peace and that is what we want to see but the mechanics of that are not for us to discuss; what we are discussing is solidarity with journalists regardless of whether they are Kurdish or Turkish.

Most of the people who operate social media are not involved in trade unions so we get anecdotal evidence about the way they are shut down. Of course it is part of the diversity of voice which we are seeking to protect with our colleagues in Turkey and therefore any attack on social media is an attack on the freedom of expression and the right of one’s views to be put out.

I will call it a day for the moment, except to say perhaps two other things. First, when I knew this session would be slightly shorter than we anticipated, I produced an updated list of closures for the committee members to read at their leisure. If there is time I could also read a report of what happened when a television station in Istanbul, to which I gave an interview when I was there on 21 and 22 October, was raided and closed down. I refer to what happened, what happened to the staff, what happened to the equipment and how it was all done. We will see if time permits that but behind all of the figures are people, as well as the arguments about freedom of expression, the right for people to know and the dangers to democracy. There are people and families involved and we are concerned for them as well, but in the end we offer solidarity. We cannot do it for anyone, we just are there to offer solidarity.