Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidency/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images(INSTANBUL) — Turkey’s president is raising eyebrows by boasting of the press freedom in his country.
Turkey’s president says that his country has the world’s freest news media following the recent arrest of dozens of journalists.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserts that members of the media in Turkey can say or write just about anything they want– things that Erdogan says are “not tolerated even in democratic countries.”
News media watchdogs disagree with the president.
The Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Turkey in the top ten globally among countries that imprison journalists. Last year, the country was ranked above notorious media persecutors China and Iran.
Erdogan’s remarks come less than two weeks after numerous journalists were arrested throughout Turkey on charges of terrorism and attempting to overthrow the government.
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