Umbrella organization of German publishers and booksellers “German Publishers and Booksellers Association” launched a funding campaign for newspapers and news portals that are working under difficult conditions in Turkey.
With the online campaign, the newspapers and portals will be funded by publishing ads.
Funds will be raised through crowdfunding and used for buying ads in Agos, BirGün, Cumhuriyet, Evrensel newspapers and T24 and TuruncuTime news portals before the referendum on April 16.
The initial aim of the campaign that uses “FreeWordsTurkey” hashtag is to raise 15,000 euro. So far, 11, 670 euro has been raised.
Chair of the Association Alexander Skipis said, “We shouldn’t give up expressing our opinions on freedom of thought in Turkey.”
The ad that is planned to be published in the newspaper reads: “We observe with great concern that the Turkish government distances itself ever further from the fundamental values of free society. The separation of powers, equal opportunities for all political parties and, last but not least, every citizen’s right to express and disseminate his or her opinion freely are requirements for the success of free and democratic society. We know that many of you stand for these values.
We see that many of you live through hard times. As authors, publishers, journalists, booksellers, artists, lawyers, judges, academics and civilians, you are confronted with incredible accusations, repressions and acts of violence that defy the rule of law. With this ad, we would like to express our solidarity with you. We are thinking of you and hope that Turkey remains a part of our common community of values.”
