Turkish Senior Official Labels Journalists as Terrorists

The head of the Turkish presidential office's public relations department, Fahrettin Altun, made a statement on Twitter regarding the government's decision not to revoke journalists' press cards. This was reported by Ermenihaber.am.

It is noted that the Turkish government decided that the amendments made to the regulation of journalistic press cards are contrary to press freedom and that journalists' cards cannot be revoked based on unclear expressions and arbitrary justifications.

Altun wrote: "As long as we are in office, we will fight against those who promote terrorism under the guise of journalism." The Turkish official provided an example concerning Western countries: "Just think for a moment. In any Western country, would a person who continuously promotes the terrorist group ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS) be given a press card? If he tears himself apart and says, ‘I am a journalist,’ would he achieve any results? No. But when it comes to us, they demand that the state recognize those who promote the PKK and FETÖ as 'journalists.' We are against that."

Altun insisted that the number one enemy of democracy, freedom of speech, and press freedom are precisely the terrorist organizations.

It should be noted that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Fethullahist organizations (abbreviation: FETÖ) are considered terrorist entities in Turkey.