Markus Löning, the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, exchanged views on press freedom and freedom of expression with a group of journalists in the course of his visit to Turkey.

In the meeting held at the German Consulate in Istanbul on Monday (1 November), Löning said, "All governments should protect press freedom". Referring to the recent resignation of Hürriyet newspaper editor-in-chief Oktay Ekşi, Löning indicated that was unacceptable for a Prime Minister to target a journalist regardless of the topic.

"Turkey progressed, press freedom lost ground"

Löning also talked about his visit of the LGBT association LambdaIstanbul and emphasized the importance of opposing social gender based discrimination. The German Commissioner furthermore met Rakel Dink, wife of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and expressed his concerns about the development of the related murder trial.

In the coming days, Löning is going to talk to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Van (south-eastern Turkey) and non-governmental organizations. After that, the Human Rights Commissioner will meet officials in Ankara. He added that he was following up the progress of human rights in Turkey.

"The EU accession process became a mechanism of developing rights" Löning said and emphasized that the same effect could be monitored for Greece, Spain, Portugal and countries in eastern Europe that joined the EU most recently.

Löning appreciated progress on women rights, the Kurdish question and the abolishment of the military tutelage in Turkey and indicated that legal regulations should go hand in hand with practical implementations.

Löning referred to press freedom indexes issued by Reporters without Borders and Freedom House and stressed the fact that Turkey was constantly losing ground on press freedom. He also mentioned the increasing number of trials opened against journalists and announced to monitor the situation.

The meeting was attended by journalists from bianet, Taraf, Hürriyet Daily News, the Armenian Agos weekly and the Samanyolu newspaper. (EA/VK)