AEJ protest at Turkish press freedom assault handed to EU Enlargement Commissioner

On 11 March the AEJ’s statement of protest against the seizure of Zaman newspaper in Turkey was handed in person to EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn.
In a meeting with AEJ-President Otmar Lahodynsky in Vienna Mr Hahn affirmed that “Turkey must respect press freedom“. He stated that the latest actions by state authorities in Turkey to bring independent media under control would jeopardise the progress made by Turkey in other areas in the ongoing negotiations on the country’s membership of the European Union.
„There will be no negotiations about a Turkish version of democracy and the rule of law“, Hahn said. „There is only one European version of those.”