:00:00. > :00:00.media censorship and investigates why journalists so often find
:00:00. > :00:00.themselves under attack from the authorities there.
:00:00. > :00:12.Turkey. A jewel of the Mediterranean. A rising, buzzing
:00:13. > :00:20.economy, attracting tourists from all over the world. But it has also
:00:21. > :00:34.been a leading jailer of journalists. I am back in Turkey to
:00:35. > :00:38.find out why. Covering the news has rarely been so difficult. The police
:00:39. > :00:42.have just announced they will be using tear gas, warning people to
:00:43. > :00:46.disperse immediately. The authorities here do not always want
:00:47. > :00:48.people to know what is going on. The Government is tilting towards
:00:49. > :00:52.authoritarianism, and seems to be less and less tolerant of any kind
:00:53. > :00:59.of criticism. There are no checks and balances. The Turkish government
:01:00. > :01:02.denies any press censorship. Instead, the Prime Minister Recep
:01:03. > :01:47.Tayyip Erdogan, blames the foreign media for misrepresenting Turkey.
:01:48. > :01:56.It is October 29, and the annual Republic Day parade in Istanbul.
:01:57. > :02:06.Mustapha Kamal Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey, called it the
:02:07. > :02:09.biggest festival. The country has just marked the 90th anniversary of
:02:10. > :02:12.the Republic. People gathering here are not necessarily political. They
:02:13. > :02:15.are families, mostly, but there are still divisions amongst the crowd
:02:16. > :02:19.here. Some are pro-government, some anti-government. They are all
:02:20. > :02:22.passionate about the future of Turkey, but with very different
:02:23. > :02:35.views about what that future should be. Across town, that passion is
:02:36. > :02:40.bubbling over. An anti-government protest has attracted a heavy police
:02:41. > :02:49.presence. The journalists here seem to be free to do their job. But are
:02:50. > :02:52.they? Last June, a small environmental protest to save the
:02:53. > :02:58.park in central Istanbul lead to wider opposition against the
:02:59. > :03:05.Government. It spread across the country, as police used force to
:03:06. > :03:15.clear crowds. The protests grew day by day, and the violence continued
:03:16. > :03:21.into the night. But the main Turkish news channels showed anything but
:03:22. > :03:24.this breaking news. One had a discussion about schizophrenia, and
:03:25. > :03:39.another, a film about Hitler. And CNN chose penguins. Meanwhile, local
:03:40. > :03:50.journalists were trying to report on the protests. Some were caught up in
:03:51. > :03:55.the police crackdown. Ahmet Sik is a widely respected and well-known
:03:56. > :03:57.investigative reporter. He is convinced that he was targeted by
:03:58. > :04:18.the police while covering the clashes last summer.
:04:19. > :04:23.He was hospitalised, but returned to cover the protests a few days later.
:04:24. > :04:26.Together with other journalists, he said he was targeted again by the
:04:27. > :04:50.police. He has not only been targeted physically. In 2011, he was
:04:51. > :05:06.jailed for a year. The Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip
:05:07. > :05:14.Erdogan, talking about his book, said, books can be more dangerous
:05:15. > :05:18.than bombs. This pro-government rally was held in Istanbul, just a
:05:19. > :05:23.day after Gezi Park was cleared of the anti-government protesters. It
:05:24. > :05:29.showed the huge support the Prime Minister has in the country. He has
:05:30. > :05:37.won three consecutive elections, and almost 50% voted for him last time
:05:38. > :05:39.round. He was clearly furious with the international media for their
:05:40. > :06:05.coverage of the anti-government protests.
:06:06. > :06:13.His criticisms became personal as well. I had been sent by the BBC
:06:14. > :06:17.from London to cover the protests. In a speech to his party's MPs, the
:06:18. > :06:33.Prime Minister took time to single me out.
:06:34. > :06:40.It was my reporting from this park that attracted such official
:06:41. > :06:43.condemnation. When the main protests in Gezi Park were broken up, people
:06:44. > :06:49.started gathering in their local parks, like this one. I used to live
:06:50. > :06:55.close to here, and my grandparents would bring me to this park and I
:06:56. > :06:59.was a kid. At one protest here, I tweeted what the speakers were
:07:00. > :07:02.saying. One woman called for an economic boycott for six months to
:07:03. > :07:07.get the Government to listen. I quoted her in a tweet. That quote
:07:08. > :07:14.was ascribed to me by the mayor of the Turkish capital Ankara as if I
:07:15. > :07:18.had called for a boycott. He started a Twitter campaign against me,
:07:19. > :07:19.calling me a British agent and a traitor which was followed by
:07:20. > :07:50.thousands of rape and death threats. Months later, some journalists in
:07:51. > :07:56.Turkey are still being intimidated by officials. There seems to be a
:07:57. > :08:01.culture of intolerance to uncomfortable truths. This man, an
:08:02. > :08:09.investigative journalist, is working on a sensitive story. He is covering
:08:10. > :08:11.the death of a 19-year-old allegedly killed by police in last year's
:08:12. > :08:34.protests. These pictures were recovered after
:08:35. > :09:11.an attempt was made to delete them. The next day, he lapses into a coma
:09:12. > :09:13.and died in month later. I travel to a city in the south to meet a
:09:14. > :09:49.close-knit family. His brother and a lawyer shows me
:09:50. > :10:53.around. After investigating the story, he
:10:54. > :10:59.received an e-mail from the Governor of Eskisehir. The city where the
:11:00. > :11:17.attack took place. The e-mail was sent at 4am.
:11:18. > :11:20.He checked with the governor whether he had actually sent this message.
:11:21. > :11:32.He had. Despite the threats, he is
:11:33. > :12:01.determined to continue reporting the story.
:12:02. > :12:05.Turkey's union of journalists says that over the last few months, more
:12:06. > :12:08.than 200 journalists have been sacked or forced to resign for
:12:09. > :12:15.covering issues about the Government backed by insensitive. And there
:12:16. > :12:35.appears to be a creeping culture of self-censorship in Turkey. In a cafe
:12:36. > :12:37.in central Istanbul, I meet two journalists who are both sacked from
:12:38. > :12:40.their jobs with pro-government papers. My editors make it clear
:12:41. > :12:43.that the pressure was not just coming from me and Rob the newspaper
:12:44. > :12:48.but from the Government as well. How difficult is it to work in that
:12:49. > :12:59.environment? You will hardly see a serious investigative piece on
:13:00. > :13:02.corruption. No-one dares go there. As soon as you enter into proper
:13:03. > :13:05.investigative journalism, you touch a lot of nerves, not only about the
:13:06. > :13:16.Government, but the company that holds the asset of the outset you
:13:17. > :13:21.are working at. Even here, there is disagreement about what journalism
:13:22. > :13:25.is. There must be a division between activism and journalism. A lot of
:13:26. > :13:29.our colleagues are unfortunately blending activism and... Surely
:13:30. > :13:40.militancy and advocacy journalism doesn't warrant someone ending up in
:13:41. > :13:54.jail. Absolutely. To say that Turkey is the biggest jailer of journalists
:13:55. > :13:56.in the world is a fair description. Across town, at Turkey's biggest
:13:57. > :14:00.courthouse, they make the same distinctions. Classifying
:14:01. > :14:05.campaigning challenging journalism as unlawful, political activism.
:14:06. > :14:12.Foreign observers say this is a political trial. That is what the
:14:13. > :14:15.Prime Minister says. He says that we do not imprison journalists because
:14:16. > :14:17.they are doing their jobs, no, we imprison them because they are
:14:18. > :14:30.political activists. But they are all imprisoned because they have
:14:31. > :14:35.done their jobs. More than 20 journalists are on trial here today.
:14:36. > :14:40.The journalists' union has called a silent protest in support of them
:14:41. > :14:45.and their families. There are just a few people here, not a great bunch.
:14:46. > :14:52.And this is another sign that the unions are weak. And this shows that
:14:53. > :14:58.the journalists in Turkey have to fight their own corners.
:14:59. > :15:02.Seven of the journalists on trial here receive life sentences, not for
:15:03. > :15:09.their journalism, the judges say, but terrorism.
:15:10. > :15:17.There are many more journalists whose trials are taking place
:15:18. > :15:21.elsewhere. Little wonder that some believe sweeping laws are being used
:15:22. > :15:28.against journalists who stray too close to the red lines in Turkish
:15:29. > :15:36.politics. I'm on my way to the Asean side of Istanbul. I am going to meet
:15:37. > :15:42.the sister of Hussein, who is a Kurdish journalist who has been
:15:43. > :15:48.imprisoner -- imprisoned for the last two years. More than half those
:15:49. > :15:52.imprisoned are Turkish. How Turkey treats its Kurdish citizens has been
:15:53. > :16:03.one of the most sensitive issues for decades.
:16:04. > :16:07.She talks me through the case against her younger brother,
:16:08. > :16:16.Hussein. She maintains he is a journalist, nothing more. This is
:16:17. > :16:21.Hussein's yellow press card. A government-accredited press card.
:16:22. > :16:26.Hussein is the Berlin correspondent for a leftish Turkish newspaper. But
:16:27. > :16:32.he used to be the editor of a pro-Kurdish paper seven years ago. I
:16:33. > :16:37.really feel sad and sometimes angry for my brother. In Turkey, people
:16:38. > :16:46.are made to think that if someone asking for some rights, this is
:16:47. > :16:50.something that some people are sort of angry. This kind of climate, I
:16:51. > :16:56.think, is so dangerous in this country.
:16:57. > :16:59.For Hussein's sister and lawyer, the charge that he's a member of the
:17:00. > :17:04.terrorism organisation is, they say, ridiculous.
:17:05. > :17:09.Terrorist act assist something related to violence. Because you
:17:10. > :17:14.cannot show the violence. I mean, writing or talking about the Kurdish
:17:15. > :17:19.issue is not terrorism. You don't like the idea, maybe, but
:17:20. > :17:28.up cannot call it as terrorism, because you're just writing it, just
:17:29. > :17:33.taking pictures. Censorship can be felt even in the
:17:34. > :17:38.furthest corners of the country. I am travelling towards a border town
:17:39. > :17:58.in southern Turkey. We are, like, metres away from the Syrian border.
:17:59. > :18:07.This town is rebuilding. In May 2013, the town was rocked by
:18:08. > :18:10.two explosions seen by many as retaliation for Turkey's
:18:11. > :18:19.interference in the civil war in Syria.
:18:20. > :18:22.53 people died. This 17-year-old student was one of
:18:23. > :18:58.them. A local court banned the media from
:18:59. > :19:02.broadcasting coverage of what was one of the deadliest attacks on
:19:03. > :19:39.Turkish soil. The Prime Minister spoke in support of the ban.
:19:40. > :19:49.This crisis in journalism is part of a wider polarisation in Turkish
:19:50. > :19:52.society. Supporters of the government welcomed the economic
:19:53. > :19:56.progress the country has made, and Turkey's aspiration to be a regional
:19:57. > :20:01.power. But for many young, urban, liberal
:20:02. > :20:07.people, the government's brand of Islamic conservatism is bringing
:20:08. > :20:18.unwanted intrusion into their lives. There have been restrictions on the
:20:19. > :20:21.sale of alcohol and plans to ban mixed-sex university accommodation.
:20:22. > :20:29.There is even censorship at football matches.
:20:30. > :20:34.These hardcore fans would normally be at the stadium tonight. But the
:20:35. > :20:41.men have been locked out of this game.
:20:42. > :20:45.Turkish football fans are always a passionate, noisy crowd. But since
:20:46. > :20:52.the protests back in the summer, they are getting increasingly
:20:53. > :20:57.political too. At the 34th minute at every game
:20:58. > :21:08.since the summer protests, these fans begin a political chant.
:21:09. > :21:14.They mean they will keep on protesting against the government,
:21:15. > :21:18.everywhere, at every opportunity. But you wouldn't hear this protest
:21:19. > :21:21.if you were watching the game at home.
:21:22. > :21:26.When the chanting in the stadium starts, the Turkish broadcaster
:21:27. > :21:31.switches off the sound. And the fans raise a glass
:21:32. > :21:31.sarcastically to the Prime Minister's restrictive alcohol
:21:32. > :21:48.policy. You'll find almost no criticism of
:21:49. > :21:51.Mr Erdogan or his government here. This is a poorer, conservative
:21:52. > :21:54.district of Istanbul. It is also where the Prime Minister grew up.
:21:55. > :21:59.Just walking around this neighbourhood, you have a sense of
:22:00. > :22:04.how popular Mr Erdogan is. Here is a picture of him about 40 years ago.
:22:05. > :22:09.Autumn around there are pictures of him in every shop. His -- all around
:22:10. > :22:13.there are pictures of him in every shop. His friend of 507 years used
:22:14. > :22:30.to be a neighbour. He thinks Turkish papers write as
:22:31. > :22:32.freely as in any European country. He says opposition journalists go
:22:33. > :23:02.too far. Many share this view in Turkey. But
:23:03. > :23:08.the government does not want to talk about press freedom right now. At
:23:09. > :23:12.least not to the BBC. I have made repeated requests to
:23:13. > :23:16.several government ministers, and the Prime Minister himself, for
:23:17. > :23:19.interviews to let them have a chance to defend their case, their
:23:20. > :23:26.position. But none of them, it seems, are willing to talk. And it
:23:27. > :23:36.feels like the government is ready to criticise journalists but not as
:23:37. > :23:40.willing to answer direct questions. These meetings of the families of
:23:41. > :23:45.people who disappeared during Turkey's dirty wars of the past will
:23:46. > :23:53.go on every Saturday until the hidden truths are exposed.
:23:54. > :23:56.For investigative journalist Ahmet, the struggle continues to reveal the
:23:57. > :24:43.story that is have been buried in Turkey.
:24:44. > :24:50.As for taction yim Square, in the centre of Istanbul -- Taksim Square,
:24:51. > :24:53.in the centre of Istanbul, everything is calm now. Little
:24:54. > :24:59.evidence from the social earthquake of the summer, or its aftershocks.
:25:00. > :25:03.What happened here is so symbolic. Fault lines in Turkey. There's a
:25:04. > :25:07.generation wanting to be heard, there's a government refusing to
:25:08. > :25:12.listen, and a media afraid to do its job. In a real democracy,
:25:13. > :25:23.journalists should not be punished for telling the truth.
:25:24. > :25:32.Turkey needs a fundamental shift in the understanding of journalism's
:25:33. > :25:37.role in society. It can no longer be a propaganda tool.
:25:38. > :25:40.But it must be seen for what it should be - an indispensable pillar
:25:41. > :26:14.of democracy. Hello. The weather continues to keep
:26:15. > :26:19.us on our toes over the next couple of days. After Friday's heavy rain,
:26:20. > :26:22.the flood warnings were increasing. We had a number of severe flood
:26:23. > :26:27.warnings in force. And, of course, with some high tides and some strong
:26:28. > :26:30.winds, that flood risk will persist. Of the flood line number, if you're
:26:31. > :26:31.concerned,