Turkish Journalists Association

Aysel Öymen, Türkiye's first female director general of the Treasury and wife of journalist and former Republican People's Party (CHP) chairman Altan Öymen, has passed away at the age of 96.

Öymen graduated from Ankara University's Faculty of Political Sciences, held various diplomatic posts abroad and became Türkiye's first female director general of the Treasury in 1978.

Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) has slammed Radio and Television Supreme Council's (RTÜK) decision to fine FOX TV, Halk TV, and Tele1, saying the ruling "is a direct intervention to the profession of journalism and is against the Constitution."

The state of emergency "should be lifted" and imprisoned journalists should be released ahead of the upcoming elections on June 24, the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) said in a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3. 

The Orhan Kemal Novel Award has been one of the most - perhaps the most - prestigious literary awards in Turkey since it was established by the family of the social-realist novelist after his passing in 1970. For example, the star of Turkey's only Nobel literature laureate, Orhan Pamuk, who won in 2006, started to rise after he received the Orhan Kemal Award in 1983.

Some 123 Turkish journalists are fugitives abroad, while 159 of them were in jail as of the end of April, according to a report by the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC). 

Journalists staged protests in Istanbul and Ankara to demand the release of daily Cumhuriyet journalists, executives and employees on the 200th day of their arrest on May 18.

Demonstrators gathered in front of the Çağlayan courthouse in Istanbul and made a press statement demanding "freedom for the truth," while holding pictures of the jailed journalists. 

Police detained the chief online editor of daily Cumhuriyet in Istanbul on May 12.

"I am being detained," Cumhuriyet.com.tr Editor-in-Chief Oğuz Güven tweeted just after 7 a.m.

State-run Anadolu Agency said Güven was detained over a report regarding the death of a chief public prosecutor in a car accident in the western province of Denizli.

Police detained the chief online editor of daily Cumhuriyet in Istanbul on May 12.

"I am being detained," Cumhuriyet.com.tr Editor-in-Chief Oğuz Güven tweeted just after 7 a.m.

State-run Anadolu Agency, however, said Güven was detained over a report regarding the death of a chief public prosecutor in a car accident in the western province of Denizli. 

Turkey marked May 3 International Press Freedom Day amid growing concerns for the state of press freedom in the country.

According to the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC), there are currently some 159 journalists in Turkish prisons. 

The hashtag "#FreeTurkeyJournalists" circulated on Twitter on Dec. 9 by Turkish and international press organizations as part of a social media campaign to bring attention to 146 journalists imprisoned by decree laws ordered under the state of emergency declared after the July 15 coup attempt. 

The journalists will enter the new year in prison.