Ahmet Taner Kislali

In December 1999, the European Union (EU) finally agreed to accept Turkey’s application for membership. Yet questions remained about the government’s committment to the human-rights reforms needed to actually join the EU. If press freedom is any indicator, Turkey has a long way to go. Government censorship, criminal prosecutions, physical attacks, and imprisonment were among…

[Click here for full list of documented cases] At its most fundamental level, the job of a journalist is to bear witness. In 1999, journalists in Sierra Leone witnessed rebels’ atrocities against civilians in the streets of Freetown. In the Balkans, journalists watched ethnic Albanians fleeing the deadly menace of Serbian police and paramilitaries. In…

For years, Turkey has had one of the liveliest yet most restricted presses in the region. This paradox was again on display in 1999. Print and broadcast media continued to cover sensitive social and political topics and were often unbridled in their criticism of the government–notably during the authorities’ sloppy rescue efforts after the devastating…

Calls on Prime Minister to Launch Immediate Investigation and to Bring Perpetrators to Justice New York, N.Y., October 21, 1999-The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed outrage at the assassination today of prominent academic and journalist Ahmet Taner Kislali. Kislali, a regular columnist for the daily Cumhuriyet,was killed today in a bomb attack in front of his…