Journalist Evren Demirdaş (@evrendemirdas35 /@demirdasevren35 ), since 2019 a correspondent for Sözcü (https://www.sozcu.com.tr/) in Elazığ, Türkiye / Turkey, has come under attack on social media after reporting on a company.
After Demirdaş published his report on 17 August 2024 detailing a recent contract of a company and public tenders awarded to the company, the verbal attacks started.
Demirdaş’s report was based on official data obtained from the Electronic Public Procurement Platform (EKAP).
Demirdaş pointed out that if the person who attacked him, believed the report contained inaccuracies, he could have pursued legal recourse, such as issuing a denial or filing a lawsuit. Instead, the person chose to target the journalist personally.
In a similar incident, Halk TV (https://halktv.com.tr/) reporter Ferit Demir was also verbally attacked for his coverage of this company. The trend of targeting journalists who report on sensitive topics has been on the rise in Türkiye / Turkey, raising concerns about press freedom in the country.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the personal attacks directed at journalist EvrenDemirdaş. Such actions are unacceptable and represent a clear attempt to intimidate and silence journalists who report on matters of public interest. SEEMO will be closely monitoring this case to ensure that the rights of journalists are protected and that those responsible for verbal attacks are held accountable.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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