I used to think I couldn’t be affected by Turkey’s shrinking press freedom. Boy oh boy was i wrong.

Source Quote Bloomberg Here.

I used to think I couldn’t be affected by Turkey’s shrinking press freedom. Boy oh boy was i wrong. (Foreignpolicy). By David Lepeska .

Last week, Turkey added my name to the 'Persona Non grata' list. 

I should be clear: I was not deported, nor was I banned from the country. Upon arriving at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, I was stopped and asked to await word from Ankara on whether I would be allowed to enter the country. After almost 20 hours, I decided to continue my vigil somewhere other than the airport’s immigration waiting area and took a flight to Chicago. Today, I am still awaiting word from Ankara. The government has given me no confirmation of the ban and no reason for denying my entry.

Already, I’m no longer the most recent victim. Last Wednesday, the government accused a Finnish writer living in eastern Van province of “spy activities” and deported her.

The boundaries of expression in Turkey appear to be shrinking by the day. A veteran journalist friend says he’s reminded of Iran in the early 1980s, when the still new Islamic regime strengthened its position with great purges of critics. Hmmm....“Withholding information is the essence of tyranny. Control of the flow of information is the tool of the dictatorship.” ― Bruce Coville. Read the full story here.