Freedom House Reports

Freedom in the World 2019

2019 / (31 Pages)

In 2018, Freedom in the World recorded the 13th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. The reversal has spanned a variety of countries in every region, from long-standing democracies like the United States to consolidated authoritarian regimes like China and Russia. The overall losses are still shallow compared with the gains of the late 20th century, but the pattern is consistent and ominous. Democracy is in retreat Read More

Freedom in the World 2018: Turkey

2018 / (24 Pages)

Political rights and civil liberties around the world deteriorated to their lowest point in more than a decade in 2017, extending a period characterized by emboldened autocrats, beleaguered democracies, and the United States’ withdrawal from its leadership role in the global struggle for human freedom. Democracy is in crisis. The values it embodies—particularly the right to choose leaders in free and fair elections, freedom of the press, and the rule of law— are under assault and in retreat globally. A quarter-century ago, at the end of the Cold War, it appeared that totalitarianism had at last been vanquished and liberal democracy had won the great ideological battle of the 20th century Read More

Freedom in the World 2017: Turkey

2017 / (28 Pages)

Turkey’s political rights rating declined from 3 to 4, its civil liberties rating declined from 4 to 5, and it received a downward trend arrow due to the security and political repercussions of an attempted coup in July, which led the government to declare a state of emergency and carry out mass arrests and firings. Over 150,000 people—including soldiers, police, judicial officials, civil servants, academics, and schoolteachers—were detained, arrested, or dismissed from their positions in a massive purge of suspected coup plotters and other perceived enemies of the state Read More

Freedom of the Press 2017: Turkey

April 2017 / (32 Pages)

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have overseen a substantial decline in press freedom over the past decade, aggressively using the penal code, criminal defamation laws, and antiterrorism legislation to jail large numbers of journalists and punish critical reporting. More than 150 media outlets—including newspapers, television and radio channels, news agencies, magazines, publishing houses, and news websites—were forcibly shut down and had their assets seized in the months following the coup bid. More than 2,700 media workers were fired or forced to resign, hundreds lost their press credentials, an unknown number had their passports revoked and were forbidden from leaving the country, and 54 journalists had their property confiscated Read More

Freedom on the Net 2017: Turkey

November 2017 / (48 Pages)

Internet freedom sharply declined in Turkey in 2017 due to the repeated suspension of telecommunications networks and social media access. The government has implemented a massive purge in which more than 60,000 citizens have been arrested for alleged connections to Gülen or other banned groups, while over 140,000 have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs. At least 5 news agencies, 62 newspapers, 16 television channels, 19 periodicals, 29 publishing houses, and 24 radio stations have been forcibly closed down by decree. The government has repeatedly suspended access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and WhatsApp on national security grounds, while Wikipedia has been permanently blocked due to articles related to Turkey’s role in the Syrian civil war. Popular services offering virtual private networks (VPNs) and the Tor anonymity network have been blocked to prevent users from accessing censored content Read More

Democracy in Crisis: Corruption, Media, and Power in Turkey

February 2014 / (24 Pages)

Police raids that revealed corruption scandal on December 17 have sparked a frantic crackdown by the ruling party. More journalists have been fired for speaking out. Amendments to the Internet regulation law proposed by the government would make it possible for officials to block websites without court orders. Over the past seven years, the government has increasingly employed a variety of strong-arm tactics to suppress the media’s proper role as a check on power. Some of the most disturbing efforts include the following: intimidation, mass firings, buying off or forcing out media moguls, wiretapping and imprisonment Read More