Greek reporter in Turkey harassed while on air (VIDEO)

A Greek reporter was harassed while doing a live broadcast from Constantinople (Turkish: İstanbul).

The Greek reporter, who was live on air for SKAI, questioned his harasser in fluent Turkish.

Harassment against journalists is of course unsurprising in Turkey considering it is one of the most dangerous occupations one can have in the country.

Turkey is one of the lowest ranked countries for media freedoms in the world, is the second most susceptible country surveyed on the European continent to fake news, has the most journalists jailed in the whole world, and 90% of media is government controlled.

According to the Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) 2020 World Press Freedom Index in which Turkey was ranked 154th among 180 countries in terms of press freedom, Turkey is the world’s biggest jailer of professional journalists.

The Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) has documented that 177 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey, while 168 wanted on fabricated terrorism charges have been forced to live in exile.

The Turkish government has seized nearly 200 media outlets, including the country’s largest daily, as well as most popular TV networks since 2015.

Erol Onderoglu, Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said “Turkey, which is one of the biggest jailer of journalists in the world, needs to make peace with criticism, transparency and the values of an open society.”

Amnesty International have also kept tabs on Turkey’s treatment of the press.

“Journalists [in Turkey] working for foreign media outlets and foreign freelance journalists have not been spared. Some have been deported or denied entry to Turkey while others saw their press credentials revoked,” said Amnesty International.

However, this is state persecution of the media. Those that are fanatical supporters of the government also have hostile to the press, especially to Greek journalists since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan kick started new hostilities with Greece and Cyprus.