Tert.am

Reporters in Turkey Punished for Visiting Karabakh

11:49 ¢ 03.10.09

On one of Turkey’s most widely publicized TV stations yesterday, NTV
journalists weren’t allowed to attend a press conference organized by
Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As informed by Tert.am’s
correspondent in Istanbul, the reason for being denied access wasn’t
officially announced, but all knew what the real reason was. The issue
is connected with NTV reporter Bilge Egemen who visited the Republic
of Nagorno-Karabakh and had prepared a series of reports and broadcast
them from Karabakh.

A few days ago, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded
curtly to this, after which Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Ministry also
made a decision not to allow NTV’s reporters to cover Ministry of
Foreign Affairs’ events. Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Ministry finally
officially announced that it is prohibiting broadcasting of Turkish FM
Ahmet Davutoglu’s meetings in Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan.

This step has instigated a serious complaint from Turkey’s
journalists, who are already referring to the decision as hindering
freedom of speech, which they find to be unacceptable. Representatives
from the TV station promised to state their position on the issue
after Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announces the
reason for its decision.