The issue of the press freedom and the freedom of expression in Turkey has for many years attracted a great deal of attention and provoked extensive debate both in Turkey and in many other Western countries. According to the US-based Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization to the promotion of freedom worldwide, Turkey has been mentioned as one of the countries which have got no free press in the world ( Yılmaz, 2016 ). According to the freedom of the press in 2017, the Turkish government through the use of enhanced powers under the state of emergency carried out a massive purge of the media outlets with accusations of an attempted military coup. The government authorities took control of some media broadcasts and detained a large number of journalists. The journalists, working majorly in the Kurdish Southeast, underwent serious obstacles in their reporting, including threats, violence and criminal investigations. President Recep Tayyip and the Justice and Development Party have taken the country through a substantial drop in the freedom of the press over the last ten years ( Esen & Gumuscu, 2017 ). The government has used the penal code of criminal defamation laws and anti-terrorism to detain a large number of journalists. Turkey has since witnessed a critical decline in the freedom of media for the last five years, affecting its relationship with many western countries, such as the United States, which had many of her citizens jailed under unfair judicial process.
Overview of Freedom of Press and Censorship in Turkey
The press freedom in Turkey had a long history dating from the days when several journalists were arrested and jailed. Censorship was introduced into the country in 2004 constitution amendments and is regulated by both domestic and the international laws ( Yesil, 2014 ). Although the legal provision in Article 90 of the constitution of Turkey advocates for the rights of journalists, media freedom has deteriorated steadily since the coup attempt in 2016. The president has ordered for the arrest of hundreds of journalists and dozens of media outlets closed. According to reports by the US-based Freedom House, Turkey accounts for one third of the world’s jailed journalists. Since 2013, Turkey has been ranked by freedom house as not free, with reporters placing the country among the leading in the violation of media freedom.
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The highly diagnostic standard that can be used to measure lack of press freedom is the number of journalists jailed. The office of the representative on media freedom provided a detailed list of some journalists detained in Turkey, and the number stood at 78 by August 2012. The number from the CPJ showed 76 detained journalists with whom 61 were directly imprisoned for their direct publications or journalists work. By December 2012, the number dropped slightly to 49 due to the liberation of many detainees by the court. According to the recent reports by CPJ, Turkey leads in the highest number of detained journalists, followed by Iran and China (Yesil, 2014). Despite the recent reforms that allowed for the release of some detainees, the situation has for the last five years deteriorated to the worst. A closer look at the cases showed that imprisonments are not through the social or political spectrum, but rather as a Kurdish dimension and mainly based on the antiterrorism legislation. A recent report by the European Commission stressed on the progress report requiring legal provisions and the openness as well as judicial abuse as the major concerns with regards to press freedom in Turkey. The same sentiments were echoed by the European Commission for Human Rights as well as the United Nations Human Rights Committee ( Tanış, 2016 ). Majority of the journalists’ prosecution is related to leading and creating propaganda or being a terrorist member or its press committee.
Despite the wide condemnation from many international communities, the government has always repudiated the criticisms by claiming that journalists in jail are not due to their journalism activities, but because of trying to help the terror activities. The issue of disagreement between the Turkish government and the external critics is what is considered a journalist activity and the scope within which it falls. There is a unanimous agreement by both the Turkish government and the anti-terror law as well as the criminal code that constitute a key hindrance to the press freedom. The major criticisms have always been on lack of transparency in the court proceedings and failure to observe the rights of the defendants as asserted by Esen and Gumuscu (2016 ). The law tends to blur the existing line between the intention to cite, legitimize and relativize terror violence. The openness of the provisions in the constitution and its interpretation are not in line with the international human rights.
Silencing Turkish Media and violation of Human Rights
Since the early days, Turkish journalists have been threatened, censored, fired from their job, and even imprisoned for making a critic against the government. Between 2003 and 2009, there were various justice and legal reforms that were introduced with an aim of increasing legal protection of political, social and cultural rights of the citizens, including media freedom and freedom of expression irrespective of one’s ethnic or religious affiliation. However, a worrying rollback has been witnessed in the country since 2011, with the government increasing incidences of human rights violation and interference of the media freedom. An evidence of the increased government interference with the freedom of the media was in 2013 when one mainstream broadcaster aired a documentary instead of airing the ongoing protests, a move which attracted criticism from all corners ( Esen & Gumuscu, 2016 ).
In 2016, there was an expression of serious concerns by the European Parliament over the rollback on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, taking an emphasis on the rapid decline in the freedom of expression and press freedom. Under the last five European Union reports, Turkey showed a continued pressure on the media by the state officials; prosecution of journalists and opposition leaders on defamation, criminal behaviors and terrorism; as well as intimidation and closure of media outlets owned by private individuals. According to the US Department of state human rights reports, the state interference with the freedom of media is the most pressing and highest level of human rights violations that have ever occurred in Turkey ( Tanış, 2016 ).
Government Action against Gulen Movement
Most of the actions of the Turkish government against journalists in the last three years have been revolving around the efforts targeted towards dismantling the religious networks around the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen had been initially a close ally of the justice and Development party but was later accused by President Recep Tayyip of plotting against his government. Gulen was linked by the Turkish government as the key suspect in the failed coup of July 2016. After the eruption of the corruption scandal in December 2013, the government started a crackdown on the Gulen movement resulting in the arrest and detention of many people ( Yesil, 2016) . The government accused Gulen of having established a parallel structure within the state and exercising control over the judiciary, police, and bureaucracy. President Recep Tayyip viewed the arrests and investigations in connection with the corruption allegations as a plot by Gulen to overthrow him. In response to the corruption allegations, the government reassigned thousands of judges, police officers and prosecutors who were perceived to be supporters of Gulen while at the same time tightening control over the judiciary. Since the uncovering of the scandal, the government began taking legal steps against journalists and media workers who were alleged to be in the tie with Gulen movement based on anti-terrorism legislation.
The actions against Gulen movement intensified after the attempted coup in 2016. More than 241 people were killed in the violence that the government blamed on the Gulen movement. After the failed coup, thousands of soldiers, judges, police officers, teachers and civil servants who were considered to have ties with Gulen movement were sacked from their jobs, and many others arrested. A state of emergency was declared for three months in the whole country and the President gave powers to rule by decree. In a more dictatorship approach, the government ordered the closure of all private institutions, such as schools and hospitals that were associated with Gulen. In the second decree no. 668, an order was issued for the closure of 131 newspapers, news agencies, publishers, televisions and radio stations. The same state of emergency was used to shut down 23 TV and radio stations that were popular amongst the Kurds and the supporters of the opposition ( Yılmaz, 2016 ).
After the July coup, the Turkish authorities issued the detention of 116 journalists and media workers alleged to be having ties with Gulen for a period of one week. According to Esen and Gumuscu (2017 ), hundreds of government-issued press cards were also revoked, a card without which journalism work in Turkey can be impeded. More than 30 news websites were also shut down. By December 2016, 149 journalists were in jail. Out of whom 131 were still in pretrial detention after being arrested on suspicion of being involved in terror activities. The journalists were arrested for allegedly being involved in spreading terror propaganda, helping terror organizations as well as involvement in the coup attempt. An unknown number of journalists were reported to have left the country for fear of being arrested. In July, police raided the offices of the pro-Gulen daily Meyden and sealed the building. Later, Orhan Kemal, a prominent human rights lawyer and a long time columnist was also detained at the airport on being suspected to be a member of the terror group ( Esen & Gumuscu, 2016 ). The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression David Kaye voiced his concerns over the violations of human rights that were on the rampant and rubbished the claims that it is due to the attempted coup. He was reported saying, “Media freedom in the country was already in crisis prior to the attempted coup, including the closure of critical media, media associated with Gülenists, and broad use of anti-terror legislation against journalists. In response to the failed coup, the breadth and scope of the crackdown on media freedom have intensified dramatically, with measures of an unprecedented scale being justified on grounds of ensuring stability.”
Prosecution of Journalists
Over the years, journalists have been prosecuted through the use of Article 301 of the Turkish penal code which makes it an offence to the denigration of the Turkish nation. This article has been used to prosecute hundreds of journalists for peacefully voicing their dissenting opinions. Journalists, such as Hrant Dink, were murdered in 2007 after repeated prosecution and conviction under the article ( Esen & Gumuscu, 2016 ). Following the legal changes made to the article, it changed from insulting Turkishness to denigrating the Turkish nation. Despite the European court of human rights finding the article as being contradictory to the human rights and freedom, so many journalists have been prosecuted using the same article. The use of Article 301 criminalizes free speech and inhibits media freedom. The article has been criticized for using terror law to prosecute innocent journalists who only cover events to facilitate the flow of information.
One of the major basis that was used to prosecute journalists involved espionage and revealing the secrets of the state. Can Dundar and Erdem Gul are examples of journalists who were prosecuted for revealing state secrets and were sentenced to five years imprisonment for being found guilty of espionage and revealing the secrets of the state (Yesil, 2014). They were also charged for aiding terror activities and being involved in the activities of Gulen movement which was declared by the government as a terror group and anyone who associated with such a movement was arrested and detained.
Some of the journalists were also prosecuted for terrorist propaganda and being members of terror group. The crime for spreading propaganda had been used against journalists for many years in Turkey. Journalists were also charged with being members of armed organizations as asserted by Esen and Gumuscu (2016 ). Under the anti-terror law, spreading propaganda on behalf of a terror group is punishable by at least five years imprisonment (Yesil, 2014). However, these laws have been criticized by the civil rights as well as the international community who view such regulations to be against the rights of free press and access to information. The United States, in particular, have criticized the anti-terror law in the Turkish constitution which is blamed for the violation of human rights.
US-Turkey Relations
After the failed coup in Turkey, the government deepened a crackdown on the suspected followers of a U.S.-based cleric and blamed it for the attempted coup. Turkey went ahead to dismiss all the 1700 military personnel and shut down 131 media outlets, a move which sparked more concerns from its western allies, such as the U.S. The US and Turkey imposed travel restrictions on each other’s citizens in a diplomatic war that has highlighted the worsening relations between the two nations. Washington said that it would suspend all the processing of the non-immigrants visas in Turkey as a result of the events that forced the United States to review its commitment and relationship with Turkey. The Turkish president was irritated by the move and ordered the closure of the Turkish online visa system for the US citizens ( İçener, 2016 ).
The move by Turkey to cut off processing of visas for the United States citizens have led to the effective closure of its borders to American visitors living in the U.S. unless they can obtain visas from diplomatic missions. The rivalry and the bad relationship between Turkey and U.S. escalated in the aftermath of the failed coup in Turkey that saw mass media shutdown and imprisonment of journalists. The restrictions from the U.S government were believed to have been caused by the arrest of the local consulate employee in Istanbul over his alleged involvement in the movement of Fethullah Gulen who was believed to be behind the attempted coup. In a statement to confirm this, United States embassy made a report that it was deeply disturbed by the arrest which was termed as allegations without merit ( Zanotti, 2016 ). Later, the Turkish foreign affairs ministry reported that it had summoned the American charges while at the same time the office of the prosecutor in Turkey reported that it had demanded the questioning of another US official as a key suspect in an unidentified case.
Turkey was angered by the slow rate at which the United States acted in condemning the attempted coup and their unwillingness to extradite Gulen. The United States considered Turkey as the key to battling Islamic State militants and many other terror groups in Syria and Iraq. The United States has not shown support for the Turkish government because of lack of democracy in its leadership and violations of the human rights that have been witnessed over the last one decade. This is after the mass arrests and detention of journalists as well as the closure of media outlets in the claim that they support terrorism ( Esen & Gumuscu, 2016 ). The United States has not been happy with how Turkey violates the freedom of the press, particularly the engagement in unwarranted arrests and detention of individuals without objective merit.
Conviction of NASA Scientist Serkan Golge
Due to the detention of NASA scientist Serkan Golge, the relationship between United States and Turkey have worsened (Zanotti, 2016 ). A Turkish court sentenced Golge to 7.5 years in prison for the charges of membership in the terrorist organization. Golge who is a dual US-Turkish citizen and a senior researcher of NASA had been held for 18 months for allegedly being a follower of the Gulen movement. In a statement by the US State Department spokesman, United States said that it was deeply concerned with the conviction of the NASA researcher. “We would like to say that United States is deeply concerned by the February conviction of the US citizen Serkan Golge for being a member of a terror organization without credible evidence. We will continue to follow this case closely along with other US citizens whose ongoing prosecution under the state of emergency raises serious concerns about the respect for the judicial independence and respect for the rights of individuals. The safety of the US citizens traveling or residing in Turkey remains a concern. We would like to call on the Turkish government to end the protracted state of emergency and release those detained and safeguard the rule of law,” said US State Department spokesman Heather Nauert ( Somer, 2016 ).
The arrest and imprisonment of the NASA researcher by the Turkish officials have created a strained relationship between the two states. After the detention, US Senator James Lankford also called on the US to consider imposing sanctions on the Turkish authorities responsible for the conviction of Serkan Golge and as well as the detention of other American citizens without trial. “I have just learned that American researcher Dr. Serkan Golge have been convicted in Turkey without any credible evidence ( Esen & Gumuscu, 2016 ). It is time for the United States to sanction Turkish authorities who were responsible for the unfair imprisonment of American citizens,” said Senator Lankford in his Twitter account. He added that the US companies must be wary of doing business in Turkey due to the fear of facing similar unfair conviction. In a response to the United States Department spokesman, the foreign affairs minister of Turkey said that Serkan was jailed after being fairly taken through a judicial process and found guilty. In a statement released to the press, the Turkish foreign affairs minister said, “It is not possible to take the biased words of the US State Department spokeswoman, who does not know the content and evidence of the case file, seriously. The Turkish judiciary does not decide according to the desire of someone or of external instructions but decides according to Turkey’s Constitution, laws, and evidence. We expect our U.S. interlocutors to respect the decisions of independent Turkish courts” ( Esen & Gumuscu, 2016 ).
The arrest and conviction of Serkan resulted in a heated debate over whether the United States ought to consider reviewing its relationship with Turkey for what they termed as failing to respect the rule of law and constant violations of human rights. The war of words between the US State Department spokesman and Turkish foreign affairs minister triggered a possible diplomacy war between the two nations which could even result to further sanctions. Amidst the increasing tension in American-Turkish relations, the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made an announcement of the new U.S. strategy in Syria that involved the continued presence of the US troops in the country and a continuation of the partnership with Syria-Kurdish rebels (Zanotti, 2016). The Turkish government considers rebels as terrorists and a threat to the security at the border. As a result of the announcement, Turkey launched a military operation to attack allies of Syria in Washington D.C. Furthermore, United States failure to extradite Gulen who lives in Pennsylvania have angered Turkey. On a counter attack, the Turkish president has suggested that the U.S. citizens jailed in Turkey will not be released unless Gulen is handed over to the Turkish officials. This has further strained the relationships between the two countries thereby threatening their future engagements.
The jailing of Pastor Brunson
After detaining the U.S. pastor in the crackdown that followed the 2016 coup, the United States have called for the release of the pastor without no success. In response, however, Turkish President has said that Turkey will only release the pastor if the United States extradite and hand over the cleric living in the United States, who has been accused of organizing the 2016 attempted coup. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip, has voiced his frustrations with the manner in which the United States has handled the whole situation after they failed to extradite Turkish cleric living in the United States. “We have the pastor too, you give us that one and we will work with the judiciary to give you back yours,” said President Recep Tayyip ( Yesil, 2016 ). Brunson, a 48-years-old evangelical Presbyterian from Carolina who lived in Turkey for over two decades was arrested and detained following a crackdown that followed a failed coup attempt. He was accused of being part of the armed terrorist group and charged with espionage and attempt to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip. In further strained relations between the United States and Turkey, the Turkish government have refused to hear the calls to release the pastor, claiming that they can only release him on grounds that the United States extradite and hand over Gulen. This hard stand by Turkish government has also been considered to worsen the relationship between the two nations and threaten their future engagement.
Democracy in Turkey
After the attempted coup in Turkey, the society remained deeply traumatized by the events that occurred in July 2016 and which were perceived as a risk for peace and security of the country. Given a tense relation between the European Union and the United States, there was a little western anchor in the matter. Gulenists and the separatist Kurds were viewed as a great threat by the Turkish government. Amid the declaration of a state of emergency, there was limited dissent, curtailing of press freedom and a fractured opposition leading to a weakening economy. Initially, many Turks supported the government move in response to the attempted coup. As a result of the delay in western condemnation for the plot to remove the President, the relations between Turkey and United States were strained. The man who was accused of planning the coup, Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen is reported to be living in exile at Pennsylvania ( Yesil, 2016 ). Despite having provided the United States government with documents of the suspect, sufficient evidence to convince the judge of a probable cause that is worth warranting extradition is yet to be provided.
However, the Turkish government actions have started to weaken the democracy that it has all along purported to protect. In an initial attempt to arrest the plotters of the coup, the efforts have now been directed towards the political opponents. A recent study by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights shows that thousands of people were sacked from government jobs and hundreds others detained for an alleged collusion, and over 150 journalists locked up in jail. After the putsch attempt, there was a climate of anxiety, which involved a vulnerable state apparatus and a society that is paranoid ( Haynes, 2016 ). A declared state of emergency had an adverse effect on the public opposition as it allowed for individuals to be held without trial for up to 30 days. The Turkish government interpretation of terrorism was different from the bounds of what is politically permissible as it had limited the space for dissent, shrunk the press freedom and led to a decline in confidence levels among public institutions ( Tanış, 2016 ). Americans and Europeans also got caught up in this dictatorship due to the imprisonment of Pastor Andrew Brunson on accusations of terrorism involvement.
The democratic situation in Turkey is unlikely to see any positive change in the future. The citizens went to the polls to determine the powers that are given to the president. Despite the claim that more than 51% supported reform, issues of restrictive campaign and allegations of fraud seem to create a constraint ( Tanış, 2016 ). While Turks prepare to go into elections in 2019, a group of political analysts from Stanford University say it will be one of the difficult elections due to post-coup purges, economic difficulty, and many claims of corruption in the government. In the events of all this, the government has made the opposition to struggle with many leaders who oppose the government getting locked up in jails for suspicious terror charges. This has led to a deep division in the country amid protest by the civil society over the violation of civil rights. The economy of the country has been weakening since the introduction of dictatorship rule amid declining international relations. Many European countries such as Sweden as well as the West countries such as Canada, are cutting ties with Turkey over its violation of human rights and failure to follow the rule of law.
Over the past few years, criminal defamation has been used to prosecute individuals with dissenting political views. While real democracy advocates for the acceptance of divergent opinions, such has not been the trend in Turkey. Over the past few months, there has been a plot to silence anyone who makes criticism of the presidency of Recep Tayyip through the use of criminal offence for defamation of the president. Since taking over power in 2004, Recep Tayyip’s lawyers have filed more than 2000 cases of criminal defamation against the presidency, most of which were directed towards journalists. Under Article 125 of the Turkish constitution penal code, defamation has a maximum of 2 years imprisonment (( Tanış, 2016 ). This legislation has been considered by many international communities as a violation of people’s rights to freedom of expression and hinders one’s right to access information. According to Haynes (2016 ), an increase in the punitive and compensation lawsuits for defamation had increased in 2015 compared to previous years.
Importance of Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression
An independent press is one of the essential pillars of democracy in any country. All over the world from developing to developed countries, less free societies struggle to gain full access to the information and freedom of expression for a wide range of reasons, including poverty and cultural pressures. Media freedom and freedom of expressions are fundamental rights and violating such rights amounts to the infringement of other rights. Media freedom in Turkey is important as it can help the country to regain its lost democracy, which is the fundamental ground for development. Research by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has shown that since the introduction of dictatorship and violation of freedom of the press in Turkey, the economy of the country has been weakening ( Haynes, 2016 ).
Free and independent media facilitate good governance and enhance human development which is important to the Turkish people. The transition from autocracy opens up media for private ownership and broadens access to information by the public and limits the control of information by the government. As a result, the media contributes directly to democratization and good governance by acting as a watchdog through promotion of accountability and transparency in governance. Media also creates a civic forum where many voices are heard while at the same time highlighting social problems of the nation that needs to be addressed. Through the promotion of accountability and transparency in the leadership, vices such as corruption and misuse of public resources will be minimized thus yielding a development-oriented nation. Following a weakening economy of Turkey, permitting and promoting press freedom will be useful in making a comeback into strong economic development and enhanced democracy ( Esen & Gumuscu, 2016 ).
Reports by the US-based Freedom House have shown that due to the deteriorating relationship between Turkey and its former allies, such as the United States, international trade between Turkey and other nations have been affected resulting to negative impacts on the economy. The travel ban that both United States and Turkey imposed on the citizens of each other’s country has had negative impacts on the economic growth of Turkey ( Tanış, 2016 ). Establishment of free press is essential in establishing a stronger relationship between Turkey and other countries, a prerequisite for good trade relations. Both Turkey and the United States rely on each other for trade. When democracy prevails and the freedom of media is respected, international trade is boosted where both United States and Turkey benefit.
The existence of political freedom and a free press can indirectly contribute to human development. This can be achieved by enhancing government responsiveness to the concerns of the public. Media liberalization is an important indicator of democracy. Nations that have greater access to information have been found to have political stability, adherence to the rule of law, government efficiency, and regulatory quality ( Tanış, 2016 ). Turkey has shown a greater violation of human rights, and making reforms in the constitution to promote dictatorial rule that does not uphold the rule of law can only worsen the economy of the nation. Allowing and respecting the freedom of the media will promote democracy, facilitate adherence to the rule of law, and promote economic development. A free and independent media is an integral part and process of the democratization and promotion of good governance which ultimately improves human development. Supporting policies and rules that eradicate the barrier to the free exchange of information and freedom of expression is important to promoting democracy and economic development (( Haynes, 2016 ). Such barriers to a free press that should be discouraged include censorship, journalists’ intimidation, and domination of media outlets by the state.
A free press can enhance democratization and facilitate economic development. It is the crucial instrument for socio-economic development for Turkey. According to the philosopher, Emmanuel Kant, a developed and an enlightened society of free and independent individuals cannot be realized unless there is freedom of expression ( Esen & Gumuscu, 2017 ). A free press has been found to have positive effects on governance and economic development. The free press can increase accountability in the Turkish government that has been accused of a series of corruptions, and expand the public participation in the political decision making beyond just a small circle of leaders. A recent study by the International Human Rights Organization has shown that no nation in the world has a free press and a simultaneously large number of its citizens living below poverty line. It facilitates the provision of social services to the country ( Somer, 2016 ).
Turkey has been a strong defender of democracy in the past but has been accused of rolling backwards from the past days by denying the media freedom. Information is knowledge and keeping the citizens informed is the key to human development. Journalists play a big role in informing the public of any fraud or violation of law by the state officers. In Turkey where the government is full of human rights violations and dictatorship, free media will help inform the public of such vices and enhance accountability. Journalists represent the interest of the people regarding business and political elites. The government is put under scrutiny for the actions through the media ( Haynes, 2016 ). When the government is put under strict scrutiny, the public resources will be used responsibly towards economic development.
Allowing media freedom in Turkey can be useful in building a strong relationship between the United States and Turkey. The latter have a long history of engagement in a multidimensional trade based on the mutual respect and interests. As members and allies of NATO, Turkey and the United States carry on a bilateral relations that have been based on the universal values, such as democracy, respect for human rights, freedom, and obedience to the rule of law as well as free market economy ( Yılmaz, 2016 ). The two nations have been cooperating on a broad geographical area, including Syria, Iraq, and the Middle East where they are involved in critically important issues, such as counter-terrorism, security on energy, and nuclear non-proliferation as well as global economy
The relationship between Turkey and the United States of America has all along been founded on common values and interests. However, since the emergence of the dictatorial rule in Turkey and violation of human rights that have been associated with the detention of hundreds of journalists without trial, this relationship has deteriorated. This intensified during the July 2016 attempted coup in which a US-based cleric was suspected to have been involved. Turkey was not happy with the slow rate at which the United States responded to the issue, and this sparkled more uncertainty over the future relations between the two nations ( Haynes, 2016 ). The United States had criticized the mass arrests and detention of the journalists, citing it as a violation of human rights. Because the relationship between the United States and Turkey have all along been based on values, such as respect for human rights and the rule of law, the interference of the state with the freedom of the press had not impressed the United States.
Allowing for the freedom of the press will, therefore, enhance a bilateral relationship that had previously existed between the two countries that were always driven by individual country’s interest. Both the United States and Turkey have interests in each other and their bilateral relationship has always been driven by the interests of both countries ( Somer, 2016). Thus, by having a free press in Turkey, the United State will be able to revive its stronger relationship with Turkey and mutual benefits that existed between the countries will continue.
Conclusion
The relationship between the United States and Turkey have deteriorated since the 2016 attempted coup that saw a violation of media freedoms and detention of journalists as well as American citizens over what was considered the unfair judicial process. Turkey having gotten angered with U.S. refusal to extradite cleric Gulen, they have also jailed many American citizens over alleged involvement in the terrorist activities. While many international communities have criticized the way in which Turkey government dealt with the attempted coup, the government continues to jail more journalists and arrest more people for allegedly having been involved in the attempted coup or supporting the Gulen movement. The jailing of the NASA researcher and pastor Brunson have led to a strained relationship between the two countries and seems to even worsen their future engagements and the bilateral relationship that had existed between the two countries for years.
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