A recent report prepared by the Freedom House including a freedom index reflects the current political situation in Turkey, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Meral Danış Beştaş said in a speech at the Turkish parliament on Monday.
Beştaş drew attention to the Freedom in the World report, which is composed of numerical ratings and supporting descriptive texts for 195 countries and 15 territories.
Finding that the Turkish government was manipulating electoral laws and imposing harsh penalties for disinformation ahead of planned 2023 general elections, Freedom House evaluated Turkey’s freedom index alongside countries like Myanmar and Tanzania.
Based on the report, which evaluates Turkey as being in the category of “non-free” countries, Beştaş said that everything that the government denies is included in the report with all its clarity.
“Supervisory and control mechanisms have been removed. Political opponents are being liquidated by the judiciary and institutions. The most concrete example of this is the HDP,” said Beştaş, adding that Turkey is competing with Tanzania in the freedom index.
Erdoğan vehemently disagreed with the report claiming that there are no journalists in Turkish prisons on the basis of their ideas.
