Today’s Zaman quotes Vice President and Rafik Hariri Center Director Francis J. Ricciardone on the arrest of media personnel and deteriorating press freedom in Turkey:
Francis J. Ricciardone, a former US ambassador to Turkey who is now the vice president of the Atlantic Council and director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, lamented the growing pressure on the media.
“In general, what we see happening in Turkey these days in terms of either official actions against legitimate media practitioners, or putative non-official thuggery against media figures, dismays all who care about the stability, advancement and strength of Turkish democracy,” he said.