Human Rights Groups: White House Must Push Turkey On Press Jailings

Human rights groups from across the ideological spectrum are urging President Obama to "express publicly and privately America's concerns about Turkey's backsliding" on rule of law and political freedoms. The Foreign Policy Initiative, Freedom House, Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), and Reporters Without Borders released an open letter yesterday stating inter alia that "America's close ties to Turkey and our considerable stake in Turkey's future" require that the U.S. criticize Ankara's broad efforts to chill freedom of expression. The Committee to Protect Journalists has labeled Turkey "the world’s worst jailer of the press," an assessment echoed by Reporters Without Borders. The letter also calls attention to recent speeches by Turkish PM Erdogan calling for the implementation of blasphemy laws.