Journalist Gencel speaks at MPA Conference

Turkish journalist Suleyman Gencel who was recently fired from the Turkish newspaper Yeni Ashir, as a result of his position as President of the Progressive Editors Union, which supports freedom of press, today criticised the negative position of journalists in his country.
In order to keep his job in semi-democratic Turkey, Mr Gencel had to maintain close relations with politicians and stated that it was common for journalists sharing his views to be fired.
He also stated that digital mass organisations, which include 9 electronic newspapers with 2 million readers, are constantly increasing, but have to deal with various bans. According to Mr Gencel, three of these newspapers offer liberal and balanced information on matters such as freedom of press and minorities, and employ most of the journalists who were fired from the country's traditional mass media organisations.

MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY 25 - 11 - 2000