The latest global press freedom report reads like a forensic document tracing how far an authoritarian regime can drag a country into democratic decay. According to the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Turkey has plunged to 159th place out of 180 countries—a ranking that now places it behind Pakistan, Sudan, and even Iraq, nations struggling with civil conflict, coups, or institutional breakdown. This decline is driven not only by the ruling Islamist-authoritarian bloc but also by a long-standing opposition mentality, particularly the entrenched mindset of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which has consistently failed to defend media freedoms.
RSF (Reporters Sans Frontières), founded in 1985 in Paris, is one of the world’s most credible independent watchdogs on press freedom. The organization monitors threats against journalists, including censorship, imprisonment, and targeted killings, while pressuring governments and international bodies to safeguard fundamental freedoms. RSF’s teams work especially in war zones, authoritarian regimes, and regions where a culture of impunity enables the silencing—and sometimes killing—of journalists. Its 2025 report highlights Israel and Russia as leading sources of journalist deaths, underscoring the deadly link between hate speech, militarized nationalism, and impunity.
Against this global backdrop, Turkey’s placement in the “very serious” category marks a dramatic indictment. The country’s score of 29.40 points cements its position near the bottom of the index. Even more telling are the breakdowns: the political context score (19.69) and economic context score (26.09) reveal the overwhelming influence of the ruling party’s pressure on media structures and the dominance of pro-government business conglomerates. The legal framework score (32.42) and social context score (33.44) expose how arbitrary prosecutions, the limitless expansion of “terror” offenses, and the government’s polarizing rhetoric have cemented permanent fear among journalists. A security score of 35.37 shows that physical threats, judicial harassment, detentions, and violence remain daily risks.
To be clear, none of this seems to trouble the mafia-style ruling elite. Public criticism carries no weight; accountability mechanisms have long since collapsed.
To illustrate Turkey’s dramatic fall, RSF notes that countries normally associated with political turmoil—Sudan, Iraq, Uganda, Bangladesh—now rank ahead of Turkey. Many of these states are grappling with civil war, coups, economic collapse, or single-party rule, and yet still manage to appear more “free” than Turkey. This comparison reveals that Turkey’s deterioration is not about isolated abuses but a systemic political-economic control regime hollowing out all remaining spaces of free expression.
RSF’s global data for 2025 records 67 journalists killed and 503 imprisoned across 47 countries in the past year. The vast majority of those killed were not random victims of conflict but were deliberately targeted because of their profession. Another 135 journalists are missing in 37 countries, while 20 remain hostages or effectively held hostage. This marks a chilling shift toward journalism becoming an “eliminable profession” in a climate shaped by hatred and impunity.
Israel once again stands out: for the third consecutive year, it leads the world in journalist deaths. Of the 67 journalists killed in 2025, at least 29 died in Gaza due to Israeli military operations—around 43 percent of the global total. Russia, meanwhile, continues to be one of the most dangerous environments for journalists, both on the Ukrainian front and within its own borders. China, Russia, and Myanmar remain the world’s top jailers of journalists.
But RSF’s report has blind spots—especially regarding Turkey.
Despite RSF’s global credibility, its Turkey data for 2025 is deeply problematic. The report lists only four journalists as currently imprisoned in Turkey—an implausibly low number that distorts reality and inadvertently supports government narratives. Domestic journalism unions and independent monitoring groups note that the number of journalists imprisoned, detained, or subjected to ongoing judicial harassment is far higher. Many move in and out of prison as part of an unending cycle of punishment.
A central problem is definitional: Who counts as a journalist? In Turkey, individuals associated with media outlets linked to the Hizmet Movement are automatically labeled “terrorists” by the state. This classification has been uncritically adopted by parts of the international community, meaning that many journalists imprisoned on blatantly political charges simply disappear from global statistics.
This leads to the erasure of long-imprisoned figures such as:
- Mehmet Baransu – investigative reporter at the now-closed Taraf, imprisoned since 2015 and given cumulative sentences exceeding 19 years.
- Hidayet Karaca – former CEO of Samanyolu Broadcasting; sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment over fictional television content construed as “terror propaganda.”
- Alaeddin Kaya – former executive at Zaman, prosecuted as an “organization financier.”
- İlhan İşbilen – former AKP MP prosecuted for alleged leadership of the Hizmet Movement.
- Ali Ünal – former Zaman columnist, sentenced based solely on opinion pieces interpreted as aiding a coup attempt.
These individuals, and many others, have suffered severe mistreatment, chronic health deterioration, and years of imprisonment—yet they are omitted from RSF’s prison count because Turkish courts have reclassified them as “terrorists,” not journalists. This exclusion artificially lowers Turkey’s official numbers and obscures the true magnitude of the crackdown.
RSF’s Turkey analysis suffers from three major structural blind spots.
First, it too often relies on domestic legal definitions, allowing authoritarian regimes to decide who is “allowed” to be a journalist. Second, by narrowing the prison count, RSF inadvertently legitimizes the government’s argument that “very few journalists remain behind bars.” Third, the organization’s sensitivity varies depending on geopolitical alliances, meaning some countries receive harsher scrutiny than others.
None of this invalidates RSF’s work; rather, it underscores the need for deeper cross-verification—especially in countries like Turkey where “counterterrorism” is used as a blanket tool to silence dissent. Press freedom cannot be measured by numbers alone; it must consider who is being silenced, why they are targeted, and how the state manipulates legal categories to justify repression.
So what does this report ultimately mean for Turkey?
In truth, very little—at least for Turkey’s current political class. Neither the government nor the official opposition appears willing to confront the crisis. A healthy opposition would read this report aloud in parliament and shake the nation’s conscience. The CHP, however, has shown no real commitment to press freedom, accountability, or democratic renewal.
The broader picture is more troubling. Turkey now lags behind countries experiencing war, state collapse, and extreme authoritarianism. This signals a profound loss of democratic legitimacy. It also demonstrates that not only journalists but all citizens who wish to participate in public debate live without institutional protections for free expression. The right to receive news—a cornerstone of democratic life—has been structurally disabled.
RSF’s 2025 report, with its global climate of hatred and impunity and its inconsistent representation of Turkey’s imprisoned journalists, demands a new level of critical media literacy. We must scrutinize these reports, but not in a way that minimizes the reality of Turkey’s repression or erases the suffering of those who remain behind bars. Any meaningful analysis must foreground the full architecture of state pressure and the stories of the many journalists—especially those associated with the Hizmet Movement—who continue to endure years of imprisonment and judicial persecution.
